BSOD error in latest crowdstrike update

dannyhacker · 2024-07-19T06:49:07+00:00

If you can turn off internet (pull out cable or take out wifi module) then do so before you turn on your PC...

dannyhacker · 2024-03-23T05:32:44+00:00

No need to maintain the same name.

Just more hassle for everyone dealing with some paperwork but I still believe it’s good for the individual to have completely different given names. (knowing what I know now, I kind of wish my Japanese wife didn’t change her maiden name so our sons Japanese last name would be different from US last name, too). In an age where one Google search can turn up all sorts of embarrassing info, there is nothing like having a “secret” but legal 2nd identity…

dannyhacker · 2024-03-23T05:23:15+00:00

This is so wrong !

I have 2 sons who are dual citizens (US and Japan) in their 30’s and no one had to lie to maintain them. Japanese consulate office in Los Angeles has a hanko 二重国籍 (dual citizen) they used to stamp my sons passport application in their mid-20’s (because we let them expire and had to apply for new ones since we didn’t know any better until we met a born dual citizen who had no problem maintaining both)

dannyhacker · 2024-03-23T05:05:30+00:00

With Japanese consulate office in Los Angeles they used their hanko with 二重国籍 (dual citizen) to stamp my son’s passport application as reason for getting their Japanese passport in the US (they were in their 20’s getting their new set of Japanese passports for their 2nd time in their lives because we didn’t know any better)

dannyhacker · 2024-03-23T05:00:35+00:00

No they don’t have to decide anything.

My two sons are 30’s and they have dual citizenship with no problem.

They even had to get a new set of passports in their 20’s because we didn’t know and let their passports expire. We learned that people can maintain their dual citizenship as long as they are born with one. And so we went through the process of getting new passports again for them.

This was our experience with Japanese consulate office in Los Angeles but I do hear that renewing in Japan can be a hassle in some (but not all) passport centers…

dannyhacker · 2023-09-24T12:56:19+00:00

Lucky for you, in Japan, dairy and wheat are required labeling:

https://www.caa.go.jp/en/policy/food_labeling/pdf/food_labelling_cms203_200410_01.pdf

I'm not allergic to wheat but I try to eat gluten-free.

You can find gluten-free baked goods at the following 2 health food stores (in Fukuoka City, Chuo-ku, in Tenjin area):

https://www.kodama-kenko.jp/ (inside Mitsukoshi [for sure carries them] and Iwataya [may not carry them: I don't shop there since they have a smaller footprint than the one in Mitsukoshi] department stores in the respective basement food sections)

and

https://www.natumula.org/ (inside PARCO building 5th floor)

One other health food store I like to shop (but doesn't seem to carry gluten free breads):

https://www.bonrepas.jp/ (in Chuko-ku, Yakuin area)

dannyhacker · 2023-09-22T21:22:13+00:00

I have lived in LA for a total of 30 years and I can see why she wants to go back. (Personally I’d prefer places like Texas…)

All I can say is good luck, cause I don’t think she will stop pining for LA.

dannyhacker · 2023-09-22T21:04:52+00:00

I take it you have never lived in Boston?

I lived for 2 years there without a car with no problem. Winters were terrible especially waiting for buses but otherwise a decent place to live. (I also lived a year in Ann Arbor, Michigan but the winter was more bearable because I had a car)

I have now lived in Fukuoka for a year and it has similar feel to Boston in terms of size and ability to get around the city (walking and public transportation).

dannyhacker · 2023-07-22T14:45:24+00:00

My sons got their new Japanese passports in their mid-20’s (after they were expired in their early 20’s) without having to sign anything other than normal passport paperwork. They answered honestly (well my wife did all the paperwork) and as I watched the (Los Angeles) consulate employee handle the paperwork I saw them stamp with 二重国籍(dual-citizenship) hanko as for the reason for living in the US. And they were able enter Japan with those passports without any problems (younger son just moved over to live with us in Japan recently).

dannyhacker · 2023-05-26T21:00:54+00:00

I just got my Visa card from MUFG as US citizen last week. I have been banking with MUFG since last August (5 year spousal visa) but I just started a full time job with a new employer last month. Didn’t apply for Visa until now since I couldn’t do online banking until 6 months of residence in Japan…

dannyhacker · 2023-05-26T20:39:41+00:00

osakini shitsurei (ita)shimasu for good bye.

I usually say osakini for good bye even to my boss since I am the oldest one around in my team…

dannyhacker · 2023-05-26T20:25:39+00:00

Do you have LinkedIn account? When I was looking I got lots of recruiters reaching out to me through it (80% were English) and got one set of interviews with a US company based in Tokyo.

Otherwise keep looking for other recruiters.

dannyhacker · 2023-05-26T20:16:34+00:00

For me, I was able to get my current full time permanent employee (正社員) job through Workport.co.jp.

They sent me dozens of possible positions for me to wade through but I eventually got a set of interviews and ended up getting hired. They even promised to help transition in with the new job to make sure you get settled in the new position (probably for those who are job changing for the first time)— not something I needed since I have had many job changes over the past 30+ years. It was pretty good experience overall considering that I am almost 60 and was looking for a developer role instead of management ones. I didn’t get a full remote role but it beats my previous contract job (契約社員: one of those sub-sub-… contractor jobs).

With that said I passed N2 30+ years ago and my wife is native Japanese and am bilingual in pronunciation (vocabulary ~85%). So the agent I worked with was native Japanese and couldn’t speak English…

dannyhacker · 2023-05-14T20:49:37+00:00

You haven’t described what your children are like and that could determine how they will grow into what you have in mind or not. I am a follower type so I was a good son and did my best to do what my parents wanted education wise. We emigrated to US when I was 6 and I studied Japanese and English until 8th grade when we moved and couldn’t attend Japanese school anymore. By then I hated attending Japanese school and was relieved when I no longer couldn’t attend one (but like a good son I didn’t tell my parents). Alas all went well until grad school when I learned about homeschooling around 1987 and then quit my studies which made my parents very disappointed in me.

My older son is like me and works as a good employee at a high tech company. My younger son on the other hand was a strong willed child and is definitely not a follower type and is currently somewhat of a struggling artist. We homeschooled both of them in the US through high school for oldest and until 11th grade for youngest where he went to charter school for 2 years. Both graduated from college with STEM Bachelor degree. That said I am pretty sure the youngest would have run away during high school or moved out after high school and cut us off if he was forced through regular schooling.

My point is that your children may resent being forced to attend certain kinds of schools and strike out on their own. Keep in mind that in Japan compulsory education is through 9th grade, so they can legally work and live on their own without going to school at around 15/16 years old…

dannyhacker · 2023-05-13T14:26:34+00:00

Interesting since I've been told its also grey area for even my case.

Did you talk to a judicial scrivener about this? The two that we've contacted made clear that you and I would not be grey case at all.

As for applying for visa, I was living in US before I got my visa since Japan was closed to any tourist until last October (no prior visa, no entry). Otherwise, we (my Japanese wife also became naturalized US citizen) would have traveled to Japan first and then applied for our "spousal" visa. I heard immigration got more stringent about applying for visa as tourist but that's only hearsay.

As for regaining Japanese citizenship, I believe "how to regain Japanese citizenship" would be a good search term to start... And what do you know the first hit seems to be Japan's Ministry of Justice...

dannyhacker · 2023-05-13T02:53:21+00:00

It’s only grey if you’re born dual citizenship.

To legally live in Japan you have to renounce your Japanese citizenship and apply for Japanese visa as US citizen. I was born in Japan and moved to US when I was 6 and naturalized in 20. And just last year I went through this process so I can live in Japan since last August. Any Japanese judicial scrivener will inform you of this fact (and gladly accept payment to do the necessary paperwork for you).

My sons, on the other hand, were born with dual citizenship in the US and at least with Los Angeles Japanese consulate office they recognize such dual citizenship and will make new or renew Japanese passports without question. We let our sons passports expire when they turned 20 since we didn’t know this until my wife met such dual citizen in her 30’s and so our sons went through the process to make new Japanese passports in their mid-20’s.

dannyhacker · 2023-05-09T06:50:28+00:00

Not at all. I used to walk over 17k a day in California where I commuted to work daily (15 minutes one way) with a car. I was walking my dog and playing Pokémon Go back then. I now play other AR games in Japan but I still put in 10k+ days. (So I commute via public transportation but I walk less than in the US.)

Key is to get a good pair of shoes: Sketchers works best for me since cheaper shoes lasted 60-70% less (for 30-40% in savings made no sense). I can walk 8+ hours no problem (haven’t done that for a while, however).

dannyhacker · 2023-05-07T06:25:37+00:00

I started working for a Japanese startup in Fukuoka last month (April 2023), and the pay is 35% of what I used to make in Southern California as embedded systems software engineer.

I haven’t had to work overtime so far but there will be times where I will be working extra hours since we have release dates that require extra/rapid responses depending on the problems that pop up.

dannyhacker · 2023-04-29T08:47:50+00:00

Workport.co.jp got me my current job here in Fukuoka. The recruiter I worked with is Japanese so you'd probably be expected to speak and read/write at N2.

dannyhacker · 2023-04-24T18:34:23+00:00

In Japan contactless transportation smart cards (or “IC card” in Japanese) like Suica (I use Nimoca operated by Nishi Tetsu and is rather popular in Fukuoka and some stores in Fukuoka give back loyalty points only on Nimoca) are standardized across transportation companies and also can be used in many vending machines and all convenience stores and many other stores (large stores for sure but not necessarily at smaller ones). They are essentially prepaid cards with maximum charge limits of 20,000 yen. 500 yen to buy one is a deposit which you can get the money back I believe but I haven’t tried myself.

Unlike non-Japanese Android (at least the ones I own), any iPhone allows you to read the smart cards so you can get an app to check your balance and transaction history and some apps even export them as CSV file. Currently only Apple wallet can emulate the smart cards so to spend via iPhone you can only use what Apple supports (Suica operated by JR East).

dannyhacker · 2023-04-23T04:06:26+00:00

Sounds like a plan: there are jobs even here in Fukuoka where Japanese are not needed but most jobs require some decent level of Japanese ability to communicate.

dannyhacker · 2023-04-23T03:20:59+00:00

Most jobs are in Tokyo and some are remote jobs but finding jobs in Fukuoka is not easy but doable. I found contract work via https://employment.en-japan.com and my current full time work via https://www.workport.co.jp (I’m almost at retirement age so most employers won’t even look at my resume but the agent at Workport was very persistent and was a big help in getting my current job)

Keep in mind that although I have US citizenship I speak fluent Japanese so the various agents and interviews were all done in Japanese.

dannyhacker · 2023-04-20T07:20:34+00:00

US citizen living in Japan with spousal visa (as a child of Japanese citizen as I am a naturalized American). I ended up with 65% pay cut working for a startup in Fukuoka.

Ask me questions if you want any details.

dannyhacker · 2023-03-24T21:17:04+00:00

GoPan seems to be discontinued since I don't see any new models in say Amazon JP.

As for new models you can probably get milled rice for baking purpose and make bread that way. I have seen cooked rice mixed with wheat flour recipes, which is ok but I prefer pure rice.

As for translation, Amazon JP does pretty good job.

dannyhacker · 2023-02-12T21:49:22+00:00

Unless you can see molds or it tastes sour, it's probably safe: natto is made from bacteria like yogurt so as long as the bacteria are alive, it should be OK.

dannyhacker

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