JWM is more like the Nissan 240sx.  It’s an old, fair looking coupe that runs well and gets the job done, but it can also be customized and modified to run side-by-side the fastest hotrod.  It looks more like a regular car though, no matter what you do.  In the same way, JWM looks like a regular window manager or desktop environment.

I decided to mess around with JWM on a whim after trying it briefly in the past.  Once I browsed through the jwmrc file that stores all of the configuration settings for the environment I realized how beautifully different JWM was from Openbox.

Openbox is a very basic window manager.  By default it offers window decorations, resizing, alt+tabbing, unlimited virtual desktops, keyboard shortcuts, a root menu for launching applications, a root menu for showing open applications across all desktops, and of course control buttons like close, minimize, maximize, shade, etc.  It stores its configurations in three main files: autostart.sh for launching files when logging in, menu.xml for configuring the root application launching menu, and rc.xml for all of the window management, visual, and keyboard configurations.  It does not come with a panel of any sort, a system tray, a dock, window icons, etc.  Most distributions choose to bundle tint2 or other similar, lightweight panel with Openbox to fill that role.

JWM is a window manager that provides one stop configuration for everything.  It is configured via the .jwmrc file stored in your user’s home directory.  Unlike Openbox, JWMs configurations are all found in this one singular file and also include a panel if desired.  JWM has some nifty features that I haven’t seen before as well such as multiple customizable root menus, and customizable panel buttons that can do more or less whatever you want them to.  It’s quite easy to configure into a very familiar, traditional style desktop environment without any additions.

What sold me on JWM over Openbox is the one-stop shop, everything’s in one file.  The focus is also on functionality over appearance, but just by adjusting the colors you can get a very conservative and respectable desktop.

Below are some screenshots as well as the configuration file used to produce that appearance.

The following file should be named .jwmrc and be located in /home/USERNAME/

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<JWM>

   <!-- The root menu, if this is undefined you will not get a menu. -->
   <!-- Additional RootMenu attributes: onroot, labeled, label -->
   <RootMenu labeled="true" label="JWM Applications Menu" height="20" onroot="1">
      <Separator/>
      <Program icon="apps/22/terminal.png" label="Terminal">x-terminal-emulator</Program>
      <Program icon="apps/22/iceweasel.png" label="Web Browser">gnome-www-browser</Program>
      <Program icon="apps/22/file-manager.png" label="File Manager">thunar</Program>
      <Program icon="apps/22/xfce-edit.png" label="Today's Diary">bash /home/mark/bin/todays-diary.sh</Program>
      <Separator/>
<!-- #DEBIAN -->
      <Menu icon="places/22/folder.png" label="Applications">
         <Program icon="apps/22/inkscape.png" label="Inkscape">inkscape</Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/gimp.png" label="Gimp">gimp</Program>    
         <Program icon="apps/22/libreoffice-main.png" label="Libre Office">  
            libre-office
         </Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/vlc.png" label="VLC">vlc</Program>
      </Menu>
      <Menu icon="places/22/folder.png" label="Utilities">
         <Program icon="apps/22/galculator.png" label="Calculator">galculator</Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/gcolor2.png" label="Color Picker">gcolor2</Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/synaptic.png" label="Add/Remove Programs">
            gksudo synaptic
         </Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/logviewer.png" label="JWM Configuration">geany /home/mark/.jwmrc</Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/wallpaper.png" label="Change Wallpaper">nitrogen /usr/share/backgrounds/</Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/gnome-screenshot.png" label="Screenshot">xfce4-screenshooter</Program>
      </Menu>

      <!-- <Include>/etc/jwm/debian-menu</Include> -->

      <Separator/>
      <Program icon="actions/22/lock.png" label="Lock">
         xscreensaver-command -activate
      </Program>
      <Program label="Shutdown Menu" icon="actions/22/system-shutdown.png">cb-exit</Program>
      <Separator/>
      <Restart label="Restart JWM" icon="actions/22/system-restart-panel.png"/>
      <Exit label="Exit JWM" confirm="true" icon="actions/22/system-shutdown.png"/>

   </RootMenu>
   <RootMenu labeled="true" label="Desktop Context Menu" height="20" onroot="3">
            <Separator/>
         <Program icon="apps/22/logviewer.png" label="JWM Configuration">geany /home/mark/.jwmrc</Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/wallpaper.png" label="Change Wallpaper">nitrogen /usr/share/backgrounds/</Program>
         <Program icon="apps/22/gnome-screenshot.png" label="Screenshot">xfce4-screenshooter</Program>
         <Menu label="Conky">
             <Program icon="" label="Start Conky">conky</Program>
             <Program icon="" label="Kill Conky">killall conky</Program>
             <Separator/>
             <Program icon="" label="Edit Conky RC">geany /home/mark/.conkyrc</Program>
         </Menu>
   </RootMenu>   
  <Group>
      <Name>gmrun</Name>
      <Class>gmrun</Class>
      <Option>nolist</Option>
  </Group>

   <!-- Additional tray attributes: autohide, width, border, layer, layout -->
   <Tray  x="0" y="-1" height="28" autohide="false">

      <!-- Additional TrayButton attribute: label -->
      <TrayButton icon="places/22/start-here-debian2.png" label="JWM">root:1</TrayButton>

<!--      <TrayButton label="SD">showdesktop</TrayButton> -->
      <TrayButton icon="apps/22/iceweasel.png">exec:x-www-browser</TrayButton>
      <TrayButton icon="apps/22/terminator.png">exec:x-terminal-emulator</TrayButton>
      <TrayButton icon="apps/22/xfce-edit.png">exec:geany</TrayButton>
      <TrayButton icon="apps/22/file-manager.png">exec:thunar</TrayButton>

      <!-- Additional Pager attribute: labeled -->
      <Pager labeled="true"/>

      <TaskList maxwidth="256"/>

      <Dock/>

      <!-- Additional Swallow attribute: height -->
      <!--       <Swallow name="xload" width="64">
         xload -nolabel -bg black -fg red -hl white
      </Swallow> -->

      <Clock format="%l:%M %p">xclock</Clock>

   </Tray>

   <!-- Visual Styles -->
   <WindowStyle>

      <Font>vlpgothic-10:bold</Font>
      <Active>
         <Text>white</Text>
         <Title>gray30:gray50</Title>
         <Outline>gray50</Outline>
         <Opacity>1.0</Opacity>
      </Active>
      <Inactive>
         <Text>#aaaaaa</Text>
         <Title>#808488:#303438</Title>
         <Outline>black</Outline>
         <Opacity>0.5:0.9:0.1</Opacity>
      </Inactive>
   </WindowStyle>

   <TaskListStyle>
      <Font>vlpgothic-10</Font>
      <ActiveForeground>white</ActiveForeground>
      <ActiveBackground>gray10:gray20</ActiveBackground>
      <Foreground>white</Foreground>
      <Background>gray20:gray10</Background>
   </TaskListStyle>

   <!-- Additional TrayStyle attribute: insert -->
   <TrayStyle>
      <Font>vlpgothic-10</Font>
      <Background>gray20</Background>
      <Foreground>white</Foreground>
      <Opacity>0.75</Opacity>
   </TrayStyle>

   <PagerStyle>
      <Outline>black</Outline>
      <Foreground>gray20</Foreground>
      <Background>#808488</Background>
      <ActiveForeground>#70849d</ActiveForeground>
      <ActiveBackground>#2e3a67</ActiveBackground>
   </PagerStyle>

   <MenuStyle>
      <Font>vlpgothic-10</Font>
      <Foreground>white</Foreground>
      <Background>gray20</Background>
      <ActiveForeground>white</ActiveForeground>
      <ActiveBackground>#70849d:#2e3a67</ActiveBackground>
      <Opacity>0.85</Opacity>
   </MenuStyle>

   <PopupStyle>
      <Font>vlpgothic-10</Font>
      <Outline>black</Outline>
      <Foreground>black</Foreground>
      <Background>gray90</Background>
   </PopupStyle>

   <IconPath>
      /usr/share/icons/Faenza-CrunchBang/
   </IconPath>

   <!-- Virtual Desktops -->
   <!-- Desktop tags can be contained within Desktops for desktop names. -->
   <Desktops width="2" height="2">
      <!-- Default background. Note that a Background tag can be
           contained within a Desktop tag to give a specific background
           for that desktop.
       -->
      <Background type="image">/home/mark/images/wallpapers/shared/wallpaper-144268.jpg</Background>
   </Desktops>

   <!-- Double click speed (in milliseconds) -->
   <DoubleClickSpeed>400</DoubleClickSpeed>

   <!-- Double click delta (in pixels) -->
   <DoubleClickDelta>2</DoubleClickDelta>

   <!-- The focus model (sloppy or click) -->
   <FocusModel>click</FocusModel>

   <!-- The snap mode (none, screen, or border) -->
   <SnapMode distance="10">border</SnapMode>

   <!-- The move mode (outline or opaque) -->
   <MoveMode>opaque</MoveMode>

   <!-- The resize mode (outline or opaque) -->
   <ResizeMode>opaque</ResizeMode>

   <StartupCommand>nitrogen --restore</StartupCommand>
   <StartupCommand>volumeicon</StartupCommand>
   <StartupCommand>nm-applet</StartupCommand>
   <StartupCommand>ibus-daemon</StartupCommand>
   <StartupCommand>bash /home/mark/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd</StartupCommand>

   <!-- Key bindings -->
   <Key key="Up">up</Key>
   <Key key="Down">down</Key>
   <Key key="Right">right</Key>
   <Key key="Left">left</Key>
   <Key key="h">left</Key>
   <Key key="j">down</Key>
   <Key key="k">up</Key>
   <Key key="l">right</Key>
   <Key key="Return">select</Key>
   <Key key="Escape">escape</Key>

   <Key mask="A" key="F2">exec:gmrun</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="Tab">nextstacked</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="F4">close</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="#">desktop#</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="F1">root:1</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="F3">window</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="F10">maximize</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="Right">rdesktop</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="Left">ldesktop</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="Up">udesktop</Key>
   <Key mask="A" key="Down">ddesktop</Key>
   <Key mask="CA" key="d">showdesktop</Key>

</JWM>

Many distributions thrive by appealing to a certain niche of users, by providing less common desktop environments or window managers, application and configuration bundles for specific tasks, or a set-up for a particular architecture or type of computer.

Fuduntu/FuSE seems to be different.  Fuduntu’s mission statement was to combine the best of Ubuntu and Fedora, they did that by building a “user-focused” desktop distribution based off of the rpm-centric Fedora.  Since the packaging hell involved in maintaining a gnome2 oriented environment on Fedora wasn’t worth the effort they decided to bail before the ship ran into even greater head-ache inducing problems.

The new approach with FuSE is still in its foundational stages, but is completely different in its fundamental set-up than Fuduntu was.  They’ll be basing Consort (from Ikey Doherty’s SolusOS) on openSUSE!  I suppose the user-focused aspect really doesn’t change, but everything else will.  OpenSUSE is an RPM distribution, but it’s not Fedora.  And Consort is a classic-style desktop environment, but it’s not Gnome2.

Best wishes to them in their new endeavor, it’s sure to attract a good number of community members, distro hoppers, and others as well.

The players and I all use a hex-map of a sub-section of the world, with terrain symbols and major cities marked.  All other annotations are unavailable to the players.  When they encounter a major locale or event, they can mark it on the map (updated and reprinted occasionally with paths traveled and encounters marked).

They will start out with a few possible “quest” style mini-adventures that are relatively short (within 1 session) and provide a window into some aspect(s) of the campaign setting.  They’ll always have the choice of moving to a new locale.

The world map is not going to be encounter level adjusted, meaning even at level 1 they players will run a risk of encountering major baddies, but will probably be able to avoid doing so by taking heed of NPC warnings, sign posts, etc.  Those will give them clues of where they can return later for an appropriate challenge.

Most hexes will have terrain/climate/time-of-day/region based encounters, but some will have hex-specific ones as well.  Encounters may or may not be combat oriented, they will depend on the players developed reputation, reaction, and relationships with different creatures.  Some encounters will always be antagonistic (mindless undead, extraplanar abominations, and some fairies).  Others might be pseudo-encounters, like a dragon passing overhead (still inducing dragonfear), or a rustling in the brush that turns out to be nothing but a rabbit.

Daily Exploration Flowchart:

1. Check weather -> 2. Choose next target hex -> 3. Determine chance of getting lost based on terrain and survival skill, and then make check -> 4. Choose speed and manner of travel (stealthy or not) -> 5. Check how many encounters happen during the day (2d6) -> 6. Roll and resolve encounters -> 7. Mark off consumed supplies -> 8. Determine camp or lodging -> 9. If necessary decide on night watch order -> 10. Mark off day on calendar.

1. Check weather

Use: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/weather.htm in accordance with terrain climate.

2. Choose next target hex

The players point to their target destination hex.  Note that they may or may not actually make it there.

3. Getting lost

Use: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/wilderness.htm#gettingLost

4. Manner of travel

Use: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/movement.htm#overlandMovement making note of terrain, mounts, vehicles and stealth.

5. Number of encounters

Roll 2d6 and refer to the following table.

2) 3 dangerous
3) 2 dangerous
4) 2 harmless5) 1 harmless; 1 dangerous
6) 1 harmless encounter
7) No encounters
8) 1 harmless encounter
9) 1 harmless; 1 dangerous
10) 2 harmless
11) 1 harmless; 2 dangerous
12) 2 harmless; 2 dangerous

Regardless of whether the encounters are harmless or dangerous, they’re still rolled on the next encounter table.  A harmless encounter is one where negative consequences can’t directly result, a dangerous encounter is one where negative consequences could possibly, but won’t necessarily result.

6. Roll and resolve encounters

Roll 1d100.  C is short for common, U for uncommon, R for rare.  Rare encounters are only possible when the encounter roll is modified, such as by the following:  Hunting for rare +5, AND Have directions or guidance +5, AND have encountered before +5.

01-03) Animal
04-08) Neighbor Zone C
09-11) Neighbor Zone U
12-65) Zone Proprietor C
66-73) Zone Proprietor U
74-75) Extraplanar Abomination
76-78) Zone Outsider C
79-82) Zone Outsider U
83-95) Hex Specific C
96-00) Hex Specific U
101-105) Zone Proprietor R
106+) Hex Specific R

7. Supplies consumed

Make sure daily rations are marked off, or meals/lodgings are paid for, also ensure any ammunition is spent and light sources burnt up.  Also remind spell-casters to consider their spell lists.

8. Camp or lodging

Decide where to stay for the night.

9. Night watch

Decide on a watch order.  If camping, roll for encounters on the table above, using the “nocturnal” encounters.

10. Calendar

Mark day off calendar and make sure seasonal changes are noted for the next day’s weather check.

When you are faced with a scary, stressful future situation or set of circumstances, instead of fearing it, convince yourself that it will be “exciting” instead of “scary”.

This is not an easy thing to convince yourself of, but it’s worth the effort.  Feeling scared or anxious of something is extremely similar to how it feels to be excited, the emotional transition itself is smooth once you can get limbo under that bar.

If you need some help, maybe you’re not that mentally flexible, a good thing to remember is to ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could possibly happen?”  Answer that question for yourself, and find that in almost any case, the worst isn’t really that bad.

If you knew what was going to happen in the future, there wouldn’t be anything to be excited about.  So instead of “I am so nervous about tomorrow” think, “I can’t wait for tomorrow!”  Instead of, “Things are going to go wrong” think, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, This is going to be fun!” Instead of “I just want to do something else and not think about it” think “I’ve got it under control.  I love exciting new situations!”

Those mental switches, once thrown, don’t really get switched back that easily.  If you spin a future scenario positively to yourself, you start to feel positive toward it.

It’s a hard bit of mental gymnastics to do, but it’s worth it.  Trust me.  I’ve been implementing it to great success while teaching English in Japan, surrounded by people who don’t understand where I’m coming from with lots of intense expectations.

Up to this point most of the campaigns I’ve created have been built around a core story-line of some sort, intended to be focused around a particular dungeon or locale.  After polling the players in my current group, I found that they would prefer to play a campaign with a less narrow focus.  So in order to accommodate that I’m working on a world map, paying attention to geography and regional relations, and thinking about how free exploration can be made rich, fun, and non-tedious.

The key I think lies in making a dynamic world map.  I’m marking off regions of influence, and paying special attention to where they overlap.  I’m making note of climate differences, elevation differences, probable trade routes, etc.

There are lots of great tips on RPG resources online about making wilderness encounter tables that are more than just random wandering monsters.  I’m reading lots of these ideas and trying to create a solid image of what I want exploration to “feel like” as a player in this campaign.  I also want there to be implications to PC actions.  If the players slay the dragon that is the core of the region of influence, then something else is going to fill that vacuum for good or bad.  There won’t be much “true” wilderness, as in unoccupied territory, but what is occupying the area will vary greatly depending on all the factors I’ve already mentioned.

My world is a bit less Goblin/Orc/Troll than normal 3.5.  I’ve added a bit more focus on humanoid animal races, malevolent fairies, undead, and relatively unique big monsters like dragons, hydras, cyclops, etc.

For the time being I’m working on one region of the world map, and fleshing it out in the context of my overall setting.  Thus I give you, the Southwest (mostly unannotated for now, because I don’t want to give away spoilers to my players).

Osaka: Arrival Day

The bus ride to Osaka was early and long.  I met a coworker and two ex- students at the station on my way out.  My coworker was on his way to his third day of work at the Ken-cho.  I dozed on and off on the ride, and almost walked into the women’s restroom in a sleepy daze before someone alerted me to my near mistake.  I was more than a bit embarrassed about that.

Upon arriving I made my way to Osaka castle and snapped some pictures of the cherry blossoms in full bloom.

Osaka Castle in Spring

Osaka Castle and Moat Bridge

Osaka Castle and Cherry Trees

Osaka Castle Framed by Cherry Blossoms

I read a little bit about the history of the castle.  It mostly focused on the Tokugawa era and the years just before that.  I had some takoyaki at one of the street vendors outside the castle.

Osaka Castle Food Vendors

Food Vendor at Osaka Castle

Vendor Food at Osaka Castle

“Hanami” Flower Viewing Picnics at Osaka Castle

After that I took my time exploring Osaka proper and found the library and the city hall on a very nice little island called Nakanoshima.

Osaka Public Library

I made a wide circle around the US consulate before finally finding it fairly close to Umeda.  There were a bunch of Japanese police standing around outside the building and they had one of those big police vans there too, but I have no idea what was going on.  On my way back to Umeda I stopped at an okonomiyaki restaurant called Fuugetsu.  It was pretty good, I had an ikatama with potato add a topping and three drinks.  I talked to the waitress a bit and found out that she had been sight seeing in Kochi, had katsuo tataki and not noticed any okonomiyaki stores.

Fugetsu Glass

“Okonomiyaki” A Japanese savory pancake

Okonomiyaki Flipped

Okonomiyaki Topped with Sauce, Mayonaise, and Aonori

I’m now on my way to my friend’s apartment.

Osaka: Day 2, Business and Sightseeing

I bought the Osaka day transit pass for 2300 yen and I’m hoping it will pay itself off with all my traveling around today.  First matter of business is finding my way to the consulate again.  Then I’ll get breakfast somewhere in that area.

Well I found it.  There are still a bunch of cops outside, but I have official business so we’ll see what’s up.  I’m sure it’s nothing special.  I had a toast morning set at a nearby cafe called cafe Terroir.

Cafe Terroir

The aftermath of breakfast

I also snapped a few nicely lit morning city photos on the walk here from the station.  The consulate is actually much closer to Umeda station than I thought.

Umeda Station Area

Yodobashi near Umeda

Big City Streets

Tree-lined Avenue

So far I really like Osaka.  Its very mature and very urban but it has a good vibe and a sense of cohesiveness that I don’t get from Tokyo.

I have an hour and a half before my appointment so I should probably do some writing.

Document received! All real business accomplished; time to play.

I went and had a nice long perusal around Tokyu Hands in Umeda.  I bought some silicon bentou accessories and some interesting dice.  Now I’m in Shinsaibashi waiting for my chicken basil sandwich to arrive at my table.  There’s a British pub upstairs so I may have an ale to wash it down afterwards.  (Later on:) Oh no, it turns out the pub wasn’t open.

Lunch at Cafe Solare

Salad with Avocado and Tomatoes

Chicken and Basil Hot Sandwich

I spent the rest of the day exploring.  I went to Shinsaibashi which reminds one of Ginza in that it is chock full of top brand name stores.  I checked out an Apple store for the first time there.  From there I went to Ebisucho where I went into tons of game stores, walked to the Hitachi tower, didn’t go up, passed a lot of kushikatsu restaurants, then made my way to the zoo.

Hitachi Tower in the Shinsekai Area

Hitachi Tower near the Zoo

Sakura Trees at the Zoo

M. Yak, My favorite Resident of the Zoo

A felid that looks like a canid, La Hyena

Peek through and see… a Lion!

Another Big Cat

Shortly thereafter I went to Dotonbori saw the crab, the glicoman at nampabashi, and the Donkihote with a built in kanransha by the river.  According to my friend, they can’t actually operate the kanransha because of zoning laws, so it was a huge waste of money.  I had Hokkaido cream cheese gelato and an iced tea by the river before going into Donkihote, and then takoyaki when I came out.  Around that time my other friend called and we decided to meet up the next day in Kobe instead of that evening.

Dotonbori Street Entrance

Dotonbori is a happening place.

The river near Dotonbori

Donkihote’s Gaudy Facade

Gelatto from the cafe across from Donkihote

So I went to Umeda sky building, paid the 700 yen to go up to the observatory floor and had a beer on top of the city. The black lights on the roof were kind of cool and the cityscape is what one might imagine of such a living city at night.

A peek of Umeda Sky Building from the north

Umeda Sky Building Model

Sky Building Base and Sculpture

Looking up to the “Floating Garden”

The elevator to the top is on the 3rd floor.

Osaka Nightscape

Big City Lights

Videos: Going Up, In the Tube, View One, View Two, View Three, View Four, View Five, View Six

I made my way back to the apartment I was staying at, we had a chu-hi each, chatted, and then I let my poor body rest while I slept.

Osaka Day 3: Sumiyoshi and Kobe

This morning I found a gem of a cafe.  I’ve never seen a coffee shop with a menu like this before.  I ordered an 800 yen blue mountain coffee!

Amazing Coffee Menu

Breakfast at the Coffeeshop

Egg Toast Sandwich and Steaming Coffee

Well, its noon now, and I’ve been having a great day so far.  Sumiyoshi Taisha was spectacular.  I took a few pictures and traveled to a “power spot”.  It was a little shrine with a stone you pick up and hold while making your wish.  It said if the stone feels light your wish will come true, but if it feels heavy then you won’t be so lucky.  In the main shrine proper there were two ancient trees.  I asked one of the shrine maidens how old they were and she said about 1000 and 800 years respectively.   There were also some very tame ducks.  They seemed to be pretty content with their lives in the shrine pool.

Sumiyoshi Station Area Guide

Entrance to the Shrine

From the bridge

Main Shrine Entrance

Sakura in bloom at the shrine

You can get a special fortune from a rabbit.

Very Traditional Japanese Scenery

Waterfowl Shrine Residents

Ducks in the shrine pool

Handwashing Fountain

Building with a very cool organically shaped roof

Shrine Path

The oft-pictured Bridge

Another Angle on the Bridge

Side Entrance

Map to the nearby “power spot”

Power Spot Shrine Entrance

The Power Spot Itself

After that I went to the other side of the station and had a rest in the park there for a while, admiring the flowers and sakura trees, stretching, and talking to my fiancée on the phone.

Flowers at Sumiyoshi Park

Another Variety of Flower

Hanging Planters

What flies in the air? A Pigeon, a plane, and cherry blossoms.

Cherry Blossoms blowing off the trees like snow.

Then I took the local train on to Namba.  The friend who I was staying with in Osaka gave me the first two volumes of a manga a he loves called uchuu kyoudai, or space brothers.  I’ve been reading it on the trains this morning and tearing up repeatedly, because I’m a big softie and it is really quite good.

I must be really attractive today, my omikuji was bad but it said if I smiled the worst could be averted, so I’ve been remembering to smile more than usual today.  I suppose that probably has a lot to do with it.  I’ve had three different strangers start talking to me today.  First was an old man who advised me that I could get cheaper tickets to Kobe if I bought something called “kinken” tickets.  I couldn’t find the place that sold them, but its worth looking into in the future.

The second person was a young woman named who struck up a conversation with me just after I stowed my backpack in a coin locker and grabbed some maps from the tourist information room at Sannomiya station.  She was a little uncomfortable to talk to as she maintained a much too close to me kind of posture…  She was nice enough, but I decided to run away and made it to Starbucks without further incident.

The third was a barrista at Starbucks and she just asked me where I was going when she saw that I was looking at maps of the city.

On the other hand, I have started talking to quite a few strangers today myself.  The older lady at the shrine, the waitress that served me, who seemed pretty interesting.  Apparently she spent some time in Chicago.  She spoke great English when she realized from my pronunciation of “coffee cake” that I was in fact from the states.  Then the man sitting next to me, who deferred my question to the older local lady at a nearby table about the orientation of my tourist map.

First destination in Kobe was Kitano, the district in the hilly area north of Sannomiya station.  Kitano is where the old western style houses are still standing.  The first one I went into was called the Moegi house, and it had an indoor veranda on the second floor.  With the windows open, a breeze blowing, and the magnolia trees swaying in the wind outside I kind of felt like I was back home in Virginia.  It reminded me a lot of a friend’s house with its old wood floors and high ceilings.

Arrival at Sannomiya Station in Kobe

The buildings are a bit lower than in Osaka

Kitano Terrace: The Weathercock House

Kitano Terrace Flowers

Moegi House

Moegi House Furnishings

There’s a pretty little shrine up the hill and a couple was doing maedori under the cherry trees there.  I checked out the Weathercock house too, but it was less impressive to me.

Shrine in Kitano

Cherry Snow on the Roof Tiles

Cherry Blossoms and Moss Covered Rocks: Japan^2

View from Kitano Terrace

My Favorite Feature of the Weathercock House

Weathercock House Flora

After that I climbed up the hill a little farther and found a spectacular patio selling Austrian beer, which I happily paid 700 yen for.  The one I tried was called the Urbock and was a doppelbock at about 9.5% alcohol.  It was very tasty and was paired well with the two little cheese wedges they gave me for an additional 250 yen.

Beautiful Patio on the Hill

One of the best beers I’ve had in Japan

After getting fairly inebriated on that beer I walked back down the hill and stopped at a Starbucks built into a period house.  I enjoyed a wrap and frappucino in true foreign style.  I sat down upstairs next to an older man and a woman he was advising about how best to help her friend.  Judging by the man’s advice I can only presume he was some kind of monk or yogi, or perhaps just a nice man she confided in.

An Uncommon Starbucks

This made me smile

After that I walked around the shopping district and China Town.  I’m writing this in a St Marc café while I rest and recuperate before I go check out the port area.

North of Sannomiya Station

Flower Road

Flower Clock

Flower Road: Roadside Park

Earthquake Memorial Clock (Stopped at the time it fell)

Planter Silhouette

Kobe’s many flower planters make the city truly beautiful.

Motomachi Shopping Arcade

China Town Square

Chinatown Central Gazebo

The port area is quite cool but I didn’t get a chance to fully explore it.  The earthquake memorial is worth seeing at least.

Kobe Port Tower from a distance

Earthquake Memorial Park

The port area was very round… hotels, ferris wheels, and steps included.

Interesting Abstract Statuary

Kobe Port was a center for immigration in Japan.

Kobe Port Tower in the Evening

I called R2 Hostel and reserved a spot in their common room, quickly made my way to the information booth to get directions to both the hostel and Nishinomiya-kitaguchi where I met up with the other friend for dinner.  We went to the mall connected to the station there and tried to go to a sushi place a mutual acquaintance recommended to us.  But, our first choice of sushi was not available unless we were willing to wait an hour, and I was not willing, so we opted for omurice.

Then I made my way to the hostel.  Its kind of like a capsule hotel.  Now I’m sleepy.

Osaka Day 4: Kobe and returning home

I slept amazingly well in the tiny capsule like cubby in the hostel dormitory even with so many other people around.  Today was the only day that I didn’t really have any clear plan for what to do.  I woke up and showered and packed up my bags and took my sheets to the first floor then  sat down in the common room, where the hostel owner? Who possibly was also the owner of a red Ferrari outside was also sitting and watching as another man was cleaning the chandelier above the table.

 Anyway I made myself an instant coffee which was available for free, and took advantage of the free wireless to try to plan my day.  The main discovery was that the forecast was for rain, and that’s what it did pretty much all day.

I did talk to some other folks that were staying at the hostel, I was listening to their discussion without understanding anything because they were all speaking French.  Then I noticed the guy sitting next top me was looking at the nutrition facts on some Japanese cakes.  His expression was slightly puzzled so I asked him if he could read Japanese, to which he replied, “a little.” I asked him what he was looking for and he said he wanted to know how much sugar it had in it.  It wasn’t actually listed outside of carbohydrates, so I explained 糖質、炭水化物 and whatnot.  We chatted about language and our experiences in Japan and somehow arrived at the topic of the meaning of Shibuya.  One of them was apparently Chinese and asked if I knew the kanji, so I showed her on my phone, and she understood immediately.  Then I learned that astringent is a cognate in French, so we were all making silly jokes about the astringent valley. I told them the only French I knew was je ne saiz pas, but I didn’t know what it meant.  Which is kind of ironic apparently because it means, “I don’t understand.”. They also then taught me about the negatives in French, “ne” and “pas” and that something along the lines of “je ne pal e pal francais” which means “I don’t speak French.”. I told them it sounds to me like “Jenny Paul and Paul France.” Which elicited some laughs.  I told them “bon voyage” and then chatted with the hostel owner for a while.

Major achievements of the day were drinking a Merikan beer in the café of Kobe port tower, where I somehow managed to lose the umbrella I has just purchased, visiting the maritime museum where I spent several hours dry and out of the train, buying a Scottish pale ale at the Daimaru and buying a bottle opener just so I could drink it before it got warm.  Beyond that I walked by the Ikuta shrine which was very typical of shrines everywhere, and my back hurting despite having stored most of my stuff in a coin locker again.  I caught the bus at 6:16 and finished reading the two manga volumes I just received,  they’re very good I think.

Elvis Statue in the Port Area

Port Tower View of the Ferris Wheel and Mosaic Shopping Plaza

Port Tower View of Seagul Harbor and downtown Kobe

Port Tower View of Sannomiya and the Mountains

It was very rainy

Rain does make beer and snacks better though.

I almost went back and edited that, but I stopped myself and forced myself to continue onwards to new content and the things I’m eventually going to say.  The first thing that really comes to mind right now is coffee.  This morning my pack of coffee was empty, so I had a coffeeless morning.  That’s okay, I didn’t die, I wasn’t sleepy, I wasn’t upset, I just didn’t have coffee.  I happen to really enjoy my morning coffee, I’ve turned it into a ritual.  I love opening the pack and getting hit with that instantaneous blast of aroma that quickly dissipates.  That first moment of smelling the coffee is intense, intensely good.  I think coffee appeals to me because it has a wonderful aroma, there are many varieties and complexities and it has zero calories in its basic form.  That means it doesn’t add sugar to my Paleo-esque diet.

The second thing I want to talk about is chocolate.  I just had a bite of chocolate, maybe as a result of not having my morning coffee (well I did have a cup of instant coffee when I got to work, but the problem with instant coffee is it lacks the fantastic aroma of the stuff brewed from ground beans).  I had a bite of chocolate that I don’t really like because I wanted chocolate and it was available.  I only enjoy dark chocolate, and my favorite usually falls in the range of 60-90% cacao.  Less than that and I’m probably not going to enjoy it, more than that and anyone who says they’re enjoying it are probably lying.  Maybe not, but probably.

So coffee and chocolate.  That’s the morning I had today.  I suppose I could mention what I’ve done, it wasn’t an entirely unproductive morning.  I woke up and made breakfast and talked with my fiancee about our wedding plans and music and other things before going to work on foot with umbrella in hand to prepare for the coming rain (which came… and hasn’t left yet).

I got to work and read the news and checked the various sites that cover topics I’m interested in like Linux and Open Source.  I fiddled around a bit before I finally started my kanji study, finished that, and planned my pre-school visit this afternoon.  I’m a little bit nervous about that as I never know how it’s going to go, it’s not a routine visit for me, more of a once a year kind of teaser for the kids as to what they’ll be experiencing more of when they get to elementary school.  In elementary school here I visit each class from 1st to 4th grade roughly once a month and teach them some vocabulary, English greetings, basic communication skills, but nothing of any particular importance.

I don’t really have a great feeling about my job here, since I teach at five schools and see the kids too little to learn most of their names or see them progress.  I think this job is much better suited to the 1-3 year term that most people spend on it.  The few like me that stay for the maximum 5 years either truly love their job and life, or something in their life outweighs the heavy downsides of the job.  I’m definitely on the latter side of that divide, but there’s more than one thing about my life that I love here.  My relationship with my fiancee is a given, but beyond that the geography here is fantastic with mountains and rivers and waterfalls galore, plenty of places for the likes of me to explore.

I think my real problem is that what I’ve discovered that I want to do, teach yoga while standing on my head, and write books while teaching yoga while standing on my head, is totally unrelated to the work that I’m doing right now.  I have motivation to work on things that I don’t really have the time to work on, and I have the time to work on things that I have almost no motivation to work on.  It’s a bit of a problem, and I’m wondering if a solution or at least a work-around will make itself evident.

I’m definitely interested in spending some time preparing materials for my successor, but I’m guessing as much as I want to write, I probably shouldn’t.  It will take a degree of reservation in writing neutrally without inserting too much personal opinion and commentary.

There are a lot of good things coming up soon and a lot of uncertainty as well, and I think that is one of the reasons I’m feeling a bit weird.  Japanese staff changes happen at the end of March and beginning of April, and there are a few people who are certainly changing out of my office, and a few more that are almost certainly changing out of my office, and I have little to no idea who will be changing into the office in their places.

The staff changes can be a good thing, but they can also be a bad thing.  Most of the time I haven’t really recognized either way until several months after the change occurred.

I’m really drowsy now.  I’m going to publish this.

OS　＝　Operating System (オペレティング・システム）＝　パスコンのハードウェア（マウス、キーボード、モニターなど）とソフトウェア（ワード、インターネット、ペイントなど）が使える理由は、OSがあるからです。

有名なOSは三つぐらいあります：MSウインドウズ、アップルのマックOSX、そしてLinux。実はこの三つはカテゴリで、その中でもOSがたくさんある。例えば、ウインドウズの中で、XP、Vista、ウインドウズセブンなどがある。マックも、Linuxも色々ある。

次のポイントは、どうしてLinuxを使っているのか？

その理由は、ウインドウズを使うことが私をとてもいらいらさせるから。いろんな画面がいつも出てくるし、「何やらソフトはアップデートをインストールしませんか？」というふうせんがしたのトレイからでるし、ウイルスも多くて、その問題に対してウイルスブラッカーとか、ウイルスバスターをインストールしないと困るとよくいわれるやろう？

Linuxはその問題がない。マックのOSXもほとんどない。その理由はいろいろだが、ちょっと説明する。ウイルスは人が作るものだ、自然に出てくる物ではない。作る理由は色々あるが、大体作る人はあなたのパスコンを何かの為にコントロールしたいから。迷惑メールを作って送らせたり、CPUの力やネットのバンドウィズを勝手に使ったり、ただの迷惑したりするので、できるだけ多い人に狙っている。一番多く使われているOSはウインドウズだから、ウィンドウズが主に狙われている。それに、ウインドウズのセキュリティの設定のデフォルトは完全にバカみたいだから、効果的なウイルスを作ることは比較的に簡単。

比べたらマックOSXやLinuxをアタックするのは難しい。セキュリティの設定のデフォルトがもっと安全だし、使う人数がより少ない。

それ以外、Linuxはフリーソフトだ。それは値段のこともあるが、その話だけではない。Linuxは自由に変えることができる。カスタム化は限りなし。自分に合わせてパソコンを設定できる。ウインドウズやマックの場合はそのOSの使い方に自分を合わせなければならないが、Linuxは本当に楽に使えるようにできる。もちろん何も変えずに、簡単に使えるLinuxのOSがあるが、パソコンやソフト関係努めている方は多分Linuxが難しいと聞くと思う。それはLinuxのOSの種類は何十種もあるから。色んな目的で使われているので、難しそうなソフトを使うのがよく見られると思う。でも、そういう難しいソフトを使う必要は完全にない。ウインドウズより使いやすいLinuxはおすすめできる、Linux MintというOSがあって、凄く使いやすいし、日本語でも使うことができる。

まあ、使わなくていいが、ホームページぐらいを見てご覧：http://linuxmint-jp.net/

私は違うLinuxのOSを使っている。自分が使いやすいのを選んだ。スクリーンショットを見たら何とか分かるかもしれない：

他にもけっこうあるから、どうぞ：http://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_mrwizard/sets/72157626458090578/with/8484625249/

Openbox is a window manager.  It is the default window manager of several distributions the most prominent of which is probably Crunchbang. It is also the most common window manager used with LXDE and RazorQT.

There is a difference between running LXDE and Openbox though.  LXDE is a complete interface with a panel, session manager, desktop icons and wallpaper, a file manager, and several other utilities. Running Openbox implies that you do not use many or most of bits of LXDE.

Motivation for Running Openbox in Fedora

The obvious question to ask is, “Why run Openbox in Fedora?”, “Why not just use Crunchbang?”.  The answer has to do with personal preferences and the differences between the distributions.

Crunchbang
I have been a long time user of the Crunchbang Linux distribution, which is a derivative of Debian Linux.  Debian Linux is a conservative (in terms of package inclusion) community distribution.  The Debian way is a good way of doing things.

Fedora
Fedora is a progressive community distribution which serves as a testbed for Redhat Linux, a major corporation.  Fedora tends to include the latest software available in each new version.  As a result, Fedora users have historically run into the consequences of using less tested software: unreliability and bugs.

Init Systems
As of 2013, a new init system called “systemd” gained a foothold across the Linux distribution spectrum.  Systemd is developed by Lennart Poettering, a Redhat employee, and several others.  Systemd has been adopted by Fedora, Arch Linux, Mageia, and Opensuse.

Init systems are a contentious field in the Linux realm of late.  Ubuntu has been pushing its own new init system called upstart.  As a result most of the Ubuntu derivatives are using upstart.  The traditional system used by more conservative distributions like Slackware, Debian, and Gentoo is called sysvinit.

Any of these three init systems will do the job, and any talk of superiority is an invitation for flaming from the other sides.  It’s reminiscent of the Gnome vs KDE debates of years past.  For the time being, lets just say I’ve been swayed to believe that systemd is worth switching for, so I tried Arch, and now have moved on to Fedora.

The Experience

Openbox, once you are used to it, is pretty much the same wherever you use it.

The basics are: right click menu, middle click window management, no desktop icons, simple text based configuration.

In addition to that I tend to use Crunchbang-like supporting applications.  That means: tint2 for panel, nitrogen for desktop wallpaper, obconf for configuring the window decorations, obmenu for configuring the right-click menu, and lxappearance for configuring the gtk theme and other appearance settings.

It’s very smooth, quick, light on resources, and extremely minimalistic.  I love it, but your mileage may vary.

Packaging differences between Debian and Fedora

If you’re using the same interface settings in different distributions then the thing that really tends to matter after installation is the package management system.  Packages are applications or libraries necessary for running software or hardware.

Debian and Crunchbang, use the dpkg packaging system with the .deb format, and apt for package downloading and management.  An example use case of apt to download the vector graphics software inkscape follows:

apt-get install inkscape

Fedora on the other hand uses packagekit and uses .rpm format packages.  For package downloading and management it uses a program called yum. Using yum to download the same program we would do:

yum install inkscape

Having spent most of my time learning the apt system of Debian there was only a tiny learning curve to get used to yum.  I have installed one set of updates on Fedora with no major problems, nothing broke, that’s good.

mp3 playback and other restricted codecs and extras

Both Debian and Fedora have similar stances regarding distribution law.  They respect US copyright law and do not distribute these packages which they wouldn’t technically be allowed to anyway.  Many other distributions skirt these license restrictions by not being based in the US, or simply by being too small to be noticed.

Regardless of the lack of these packages in the official repositories, they’re only a google search away.  The packages themselves are almost always freely available from the vendor that owns their copyright or patent.  It took me a little while to get the flash player working on Fedora, but after some effort Youtube worked beautifully.  I don’t mark this against Fedora or Debian at all, they’re merely abiding by the law.

Final Remarks

Fedora has the latest Openbox, the latest applications, and systemd to boot (see what I did there?).  Debian has stability, well tested reliability, and really old packages.  They technically have systemd available in their testing repository, but it is not configured to be the default init system, and won’t be anytime soon.  Using Openbox is pretty much the same smooth, lightning quick experience on Fedora as it has always been in Crunchbang, so I’m a happy camper.

I have been an adoring fan of Crunchbang since I started using it several years ago, and still have a great deal of love for it.  I switched to Crunchbang because I discovered the joy of using Openbox.  Openbox is a perfect environment for me, zero interface bloat, lightning fast even on machines nearing their 10th birthday.  No matter what distro I use I’m going to be operating in Openbox, so all desktop environment arguments are moot.  What I’m dealing with now is something that runs deeper.

Crunchbang Statler is based on Debian stable, which is stable, and operable, and very out of date.  There is a newer version of course, Crunchbang Wheezy, which is based on Debian Waldorf and is destined to be the next Debian stable.  It’s less out of date and includes many of the packages I’m interested in.

The issue is, I want systemd.  Why do I want it?  I have tasted the boot times it gives, and I liked it.  My laptops both have dead/failing batteries, and I move them around a lot.  Hibernate and suspend also fail on my machines.  I could troubleshoot this issue perhaps, but I don’t want to.  I don’t enjoy troubleshooting.  I’m not a developer.  I don’t do software, I use it.  Systemd makes my laptops quickly portable again, and I like that.  I’m also entranced by the other supposed technical superiorities that Lennart has preached.

So anyway, I tried Arch once a while back, before this systemd business even started.  I got it working, but I didn’t really find it worth the effort.  Compared to working in a preconfigured system like Crunchbang, Arch was just headache after headache.  This time around, I thought about that and opted to go for a preconfigured Arch derivative.  I chose Archbang, the logical choice since I’m going to be using Openbox anyway.

It was a pretty easy install, and it came with a familiar environment consisting of Openbox, tint2, conky, and some other lightweight applications.  Using pacman to grab my preferred application workforce was easy enough, setting up input methods for typing Japanese was simple enough as well.  I ran into hiccups though, little annoying bumps that want me to troubleshoot them.

Concrete examples: Arch sucks at mimetype handling and application defaults. When I download a file in Chromium, I click on “Show Files”, nothing happens…  When I try to open a file downloaded from Chromium… most of the time nothing happens.  Despite setting application defaults for text documents, html documents, etc, my preferred applications are not used.  The fairly cool, convenient, self-populating application pipe menu spits error messages at me.  Why? That’s the kind of thing an OS distributor needs to work out in testing, not me, I’m not your tester.

Another big one for me: dropbox is not in the official repos, it’s only available from AUR.  Okay, fine… but apparently I have to compile that?  Maybe I’ve been tainted by the immense treasure that is the Debian repositories and packaging system.  Practically all Linux software is made available in an easily installed .deb, even if its not in the repos.  For Arch, It seems I need to compile it.  I don’t want to compile software, again I’m not a developer.

Okay, now to be fair to Arch, their goal is not to provide a good preconfigured system.  They try to stay as unmodified, vanilla, close to upstream as possible.  Their packaging system and software inclusion policy allows them to keep access to very up-to-date packages.  I dig that, but it’s not what I want.  Crunchbang has got me addicted to that, “Just Works” mentality, and yet they have no systemd, and unfortunately out of date packages.

At present, to the best of my knowledge, only Arch and Fedora have fully integrated systemd as their init system.  Ubuntu and its derivatives use Upstart.  Debian, and Slackware (and as a result their derivatives) are being the obstinate, conservative distros they’re famous for being and are not planning to adopt systemd anytime soon, preferring to stick with the tried and true sysvinit system.  Opensuse and Mageia are working on systemd and should have it out as their defaults by their respective next releases.

I can work with Archbang for now, I don’t need dropbox on my spare laptop.  But I’m strongly considering giving Fedora a go.  I haven’t used Fedora since I started running Openbox, so I don’t know how well we’ll get along.  Alternatively I might wait for the next Mageia release.  I’m planning on migrating my two Statler machines to something up to date and running systemd within the next few months though.  I’ll take advice from my readers, if you have any, but keep in mind I’m going to be running Openbox, I want systemd, and I’m not a fan of working hard to make my software work.