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Have you ever visited Japan… or anywhere seriously cool like that? What were some of the best things you were able to see and do while there? Shogo is a member of our live community who happens to live in Tokyo. He sent in his list of top ten places to visit should you ever find yourself in the area.

  • Go to Akihabara – It is the most famous tech town in Japan, even known as Akihabara Electric Town. Funny thing is, the train station in Akihabara actually has a exit to enter the main area that has electronics in Akihabara. Go at night, I personally think it has one of the best night scenes in Tokyo.
  • Tokyo Animation Center in Akihabara – This is pretty much the place you have to go, if you go to Akihabara. It has a lot of information, demos, showings and events about animation (called anime as many of you may know in Japan) and gaming.
  • Go shopping in Akihabara – Again, Akihabara is very famous for the vast amounts of electronics. Just go to the main street, Chuo-dori (Pronounciation : Chūō-dōri) and go in any direction, any street.
  • Go to Chuo-dori on a Sunday in Akihabara – Cosplayers galore.
  • Japan? Sushi. – You have to eat Sushi, but not at those conveyor belt shops. You have to go to a real restaurant, and experience real Sushi. Just watch how much you eat, it’s expensive. I recommend trying Ginza Hokake in Ginza. (A course is 10,000 yen which is about 100 usd.)
  • Check out the Sony Building in Ginza – You can even see cutting edge products that aren’t available for purchase yet.
  • Tokyo Tower – Getting less geeky, you might want to go to the Tokyo Tower, much like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. There is a glass floor on one of the floors, and you can look straight down through it, quite exhillirating if you have a fear of heights.
  • Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum – Although it is not exactly in Tokyo, it is very near. It is very interesting, has exhibits on space, ocean, transportation and more.
  • Tokyo Disney Land or Disney Sea – Just like any Disney Land but hey, its fun!
  • Asakusa Shrine – Just plain beautiful, if you want to see the beauty of classic old Japanese architecture, you have to go here. Make sure you bring a camera, you would want to take a picture every step you take.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

]]> 10 Things to Do in Tokyo, Japan is a post from Chris Pirillo


Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

Have you ever visited Japan… or anywhere seriously cool like that? What were some of the best things you were able to see and do while there? Shogo is a member of our live community who happens to live in Tokyo. He sent in his list of top ten places to visit should you ever find yourself in the area.

  • Go to Akihabara – It is the most famous tech town in Japan, even known as Akihabara Electric Town. Funny thing is, the train station in Akihabara actually has a exit to enter the main area that has electronics in Akihabara. Go at night, I personally think it has one of the best night scenes in Tokyo.
  • Tokyo Animation Center in Akihabara – This is pretty much the place you have to go, if you go to Akihabara. It has a lot of information, demos, showings and events about animation (called anime as many of you may know in Japan) and gaming.
  • Go shopping in Akihabara – Again, Akihabara is very famous for the vast amounts of electronics. Just go to the main street, Chuo-dori (Pronounciation : Chūō-dōri) and go in any direction, any street.
  • Go to Chuo-dori on a Sunday in Akihabara – Cosplayers galore.
  • Japan? Sushi. – You have to eat Sushi, but not at those conveyor belt shops. You have to go to a real restaurant, and experience real Sushi. Just watch how much you eat, it’s expensive. I recommend trying Ginza Hokake in Ginza. (A course is 10,000 yen which is about 100 usd.)
  • Check out the Sony Building in Ginza – You can even see cutting edge products that aren’t available for purchase yet.
  • Tokyo Tower – Getting less geeky, you might want to go to the Tokyo Tower, much like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. There is a glass floor on one of the floors, and you can look straight down through it, quite exhillirating if you have a fear of heights.
  • Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum – Although it is not exactly in Tokyo, it is very near. It is very interesting, has exhibits on space, ocean, transportation and more.
  • Tokyo Disney Land or Disney Sea – Just like any Disney Land but hey, its fun!
  • Asakusa Shrine – Just plain beautiful, if you want to see the beauty of classic old Japanese architecture, you have to go here. Make sure you bring a camera, you would want to take a picture every step you take.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/10-things-to-do-in-tokyo-japan/feed/ 3 How to Find Your “How To” Topic http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-find-your-how-to-topic/ http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-find-your-how-to-topic/#comments Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:40:21 +0000 Chris http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/12/06/how-to-find-your-how-to-topic/ How to Find Your “How To” Topic is a post from Chris Pirillo

Geek!This is Evan Brammer’s submission for the HP Magic Giveaway. Feel free to leave comments for this article as you see fit – your feedback is certainly welcomed! If you’d like to submit your own how-to, what-is, or top-five list, you can send it to me. Views and opinions of this writer are not necessarily my own:

As I was mulling over the possibilities for my entry, while tossing ideas back and forth with my wife, I realized that I just could not think of anything. What should I teach everyone “how to” do? I don’t know. I suppose it would be good if someone were to post something on “how to” come up with a “how to” topic? That would be good. WAIT! That’s what I can do. I’ll do a “how to” on “how to” discover exactly what your “how to” is.

Step One: Just Start Typing (Free Write)

If you are unsure, as I was, of what to write about – just start writing. Put your fingers to the keyboard or pen to the paper, and let the words fly out from beneath your fingertips. It doesn’t matter what you write about. You are free. Just keep writing, no matter what. If you cannot think of anything to write, then write that: “I cannot think of anything to write. I cannot think of anything to write.” Not incredibly useful, but…

As your fingers move, so will your thoughts. You’ll discover that when you write just anything, you can write anything! Next, you have to focus that “anything” into “something”.

Step Two: Focus that Anything into Something (Focused Free Write)

With your fingers blazing, begin to let you thoughts drift away from the aimlessness and onto a specific course. Just like a kayak on a big river, you can go in any direction you want – but if you want to reach your destination, than you have to chart your course. By allowing your mind to start in the river of aimlessness and then traverse into the bay of specificity, you open yourself to the wideness of possibility and are able to settle on what works best.

To focus your mind, ask yourself a few directing questions, such as: “What do I enjoy?” or “What am I good at?” Use these questions, and others, to bring your free-write into a more purpose-built writing exercise. If something doesn’t immediately come to mind, keep free writing until something does. As your ideas become more focused, the possible topic for your “how to” will emerge.

From there, you will need to refocus your focused thought.

Step Three: Refocusing your Focused Thought (From Broad to Exact)

Now that you have a general idea of what your “how to” could be, figure out if your topic needs to be refocused. Sometimes, the topic at which we initially arrive is entirely too general or broad. To continue on that course to actually writing the article on such a topic would be disastrous, as we cannot write about everything successfully in equal terms.

Think about making your “how to” topic more specific. Your original thought might be, “how to take over the world.” Now, can that topic really be covered in appropriate detail in such an article? Most likely not. So determine one aspect of the general topic and use that. Instead of focusing on “how to take over the world,” try just one part, such as: “how to harness the communicative tools currently available on an Internet that is transitioning from a static web of hyperlinks into a more social 2.0 conversation to bring the world under total domination.” Now that is an article that can be written and enjoyed, I am sure. Just… pick a better title.

With that, we have discovered the three basic steps to discovering what needs to be discovered. From here, we can all learn “how to” write a “how to” for anyone that might need to know “how to.”

]]> How to Find Your “How To” Topic is a post from Chris Pirillo

Geek!This is Evan Brammer’s submission for the HP Magic Giveaway. Feel free to leave comments for this article as you see fit – your feedback is certainly welcomed! If you’d like to submit your own how-to, what-is, or top-five list, you can send it to me. Views and opinions of this writer are not necessarily my own:

As I was mulling over the possibilities for my entry, while tossing ideas back and forth with my wife, I realized that I just could not think of anything. What should I teach everyone “how to” do? I don’t know. I suppose it would be good if someone were to post something on “how to” come up with a “how to” topic? That would be good. WAIT! That’s what I can do. I’ll do a “how to” on “how to” discover exactly what your “how to” is.

Step One: Just Start Typing (Free Write)

If you are unsure, as I was, of what to write about – just start writing. Put your fingers to the keyboard or pen to the paper, and let the words fly out from beneath your fingertips. It doesn’t matter what you write about. You are free. Just keep writing, no matter what. If you cannot think of anything to write, then write that: “I cannot think of anything to write. I cannot think of anything to write.” Not incredibly useful, but…

As your fingers move, so will your thoughts. You’ll discover that when you write just anything, you can write anything! Next, you have to focus that “anything” into “something”.

Step Two: Focus that Anything into Something (Focused Free Write)

With your fingers blazing, begin to let you thoughts drift away from the aimlessness and onto a specific course. Just like a kayak on a big river, you can go in any direction you want – but if you want to reach your destination, than you have to chart your course. By allowing your mind to start in the river of aimlessness and then traverse into the bay of specificity, you open yourself to the wideness of possibility and are able to settle on what works best.

To focus your mind, ask yourself a few directing questions, such as: “What do I enjoy?” or “What am I good at?” Use these questions, and others, to bring your free-write into a more purpose-built writing exercise. If something doesn’t immediately come to mind, keep free writing until something does. As your ideas become more focused, the possible topic for your “how to” will emerge.

From there, you will need to refocus your focused thought.

Step Three: Refocusing your Focused Thought (From Broad to Exact)

Now that you have a general idea of what your “how to” could be, figure out if your topic needs to be refocused. Sometimes, the topic at which we initially arrive is entirely too general or broad. To continue on that course to actually writing the article on such a topic would be disastrous, as we cannot write about everything successfully in equal terms.

Think about making your “how to” topic more specific. Your original thought might be, “how to take over the world.” Now, can that topic really be covered in appropriate detail in such an article? Most likely not. So determine one aspect of the general topic and use that. Instead of focusing on “how to take over the world,” try just one part, such as: “how to harness the communicative tools currently available on an Internet that is transitioning from a static web of hyperlinks into a more social 2.0 conversation to bring the world under total domination.” Now that is an article that can be written and enjoyed, I am sure. Just… pick a better title.

With that, we have discovered the three basic steps to discovering what needs to be discovered. From here, we can all learn “how to” write a “how to” for anyone that might need to know “how to.”

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-find-your-how-to-topic/feed/ 5 Help! (the Yellow Tint Video) http://chris.pirillo.com/help-the-yellow-tint-video/ http://chris.pirillo.com/help-the-yellow-tint-video/#comments Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:21:17 +0000 Chris http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/02/19/help-the-yellow-tint-video/ Help! (the Yellow Tint Video) is a post from Chris Pirillo

Oh man, the video quality totally sucks – but at least I did it. Since I’m a YouTube Director, I can upload more than ten minutes worth of video at a time. “It” doesn’t really have a name yet, “it” was recorded this morning at 3:30am live-to-tape, and “it” is just the beginning (as I hope to record in higher definition with better screen switching soon). For now, this certainly works. Three things to note: (1) Cat Schwartz should be joining me soon, virtually; (2) Darth Vader’s floating head will be a regular feature; and (3) While the workflow isn’t perfect yet, my EyeJot widget is the best way for you submit video.

]]> Help! (the Yellow Tint Video) is a post from Chris Pirillo

Oh man, the video quality totally sucks – but at least I did it. Since I’m a YouTube Director, I can upload more than ten minutes worth of video at a time. “It” doesn’t really have a name yet, “it” was recorded this morning at 3:30am live-to-tape, and “it” is just the beginning (as I hope to record in higher definition with better screen switching soon). For now, this certainly works. Three things to note: (1) Cat Schwartz should be joining me soon, virtually; (2) Darth Vader’s floating head will be a regular feature; and (3) While the workflow isn’t perfect yet, my EyeJot widget is the best way for you submit video.

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/help-the-yellow-tint-video/feed/ 15 Free Cheat Sheets http://chris.pirillo.com/free-cheat-sheets/ http://chris.pirillo.com/free-cheat-sheets/#comments Mon, 29 May 2006 21:57:50 +0000 Chris http://chris.pirillo.com/2006/05/29/free-cheat-sheets/ Free Cheat Sheets is a post from Chris Pirillo

After you’ve finished watching Darth Vader Calling the Emperor, you should probably find something a bit more constructive to do. Spurred on by Sean’s linking to a couple of WordPress cheat sheets (API, Theme), I went looking for some of my favorite cheat sheet authors to see if any had been updated – or new ones added. I found a wealth of great desktop-based cheat sheets. The Cheat Sheets from ‘ILoveJackDaniels’ are simply amazing, and their design is definitely the one to beat. The Quick Reference Cards page has links to a few good ones, largely for the geekier development types. The Google Cheat Sheet PDF is a must-have, even if you already think you know your way around Google. Cheat Sheets are great when you need a one- or two-page reference (and digging through a manual or help file is just too arduous a task).

]]> Free Cheat Sheets is a post from Chris Pirillo

After you’ve finished watching Darth Vader Calling the Emperor, you should probably find something a bit more constructive to do. Spurred on by Sean’s linking to a couple of WordPress cheat sheets (API, Theme), I went looking for some of my favorite cheat sheet authors to see if any had been updated – or new ones added. I found a wealth of great desktop-based cheat sheets. The Cheat Sheets from ‘ILoveJackDaniels’ are simply amazing, and their design is definitely the one to beat. The Quick Reference Cards page has links to a few good ones, largely for the geekier development types. The Google Cheat Sheet PDF is a must-have, even if you already think you know your way around Google. Cheat Sheets are great when you need a one- or two-page reference (and digging through a manual or help file is just too arduous a task).

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/free-cheat-sheets/feed/ 2 How to Handle Remote Tech Support <em>Using <a href="http://www.gotoassist.com/chris">GoToAssist</a> is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party. </em> chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT http://gotoassist.com/chris/ http://gotoassist.com/chris/ Network Tools for Windows You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. <a href="http://support.solarwinds.com/updates/New-Customer.cfm?ProdID=568&campaign=ipmon_DL_lockergnome&CMP=BAC-ipmonDL_lockergnome">SolarWinds ipMonitor</a>: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. <a href="http://support.solarwinds.com/updates/New-Customer.cfm?ProdID=568&campaign=ipmon_DL_lockergnome&CMP=BAC-ipmonDL_lockergnome">Download your free trial today</a>. Or, try their <a href="http://www.solarwinds.com/products/freetools/">totally free tools</a>! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase <a href="http://store.solarwinds.com/s.nl/sc.16/.f">ipMonitor 9.0</a>. chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT http://support.solarwinds.com/updates/New-Customer.cfm?ProdID=568&campaign=ipmon_DL_lockergnome&CMP=BAC-ipmonDL_lockergnome http://support.solarwinds.com/updates/New-Customer.cfm?ProdID=568&campaign=ipmon_DL_lockergnome&CMP=BAC-ipmonDL_lockergnome Get Your Own Web Site Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=cp2">GoDaddy</a> includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=cp2">code CP2</a> at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order. <p>Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=chris7">CHRIS7</a>, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=chris7">GoDaddy.com</a>.</p> chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=cp1 http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=cp1 VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either <a href="http://send.onenetworkdirect.net/z/13766/rn_a32755/">Parallels</a> or <a href="http://send.onenetworkdirect.net/z/17081/rn_a32755/">VMware</a> (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with <a href="http://send.onenetworkdirect.net/z/17081/rn_a32755/">VMware</a> and/or <a href="http://send.onenetworkdirect.net/z/13766/rn_a32755/">Parallels</a>. chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/02/19/parallels-or-vmware/ http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/02/19/parallels-or-vmware/ Coupons for Online Shopping <p style="color: red">This feed is fueled by Lockergnome <a href="http://www.lockergnome.com/buy/">Online Shopping and Coupon Codes</a></p> <p> Before you shop next time, see if we have <a href="http://coupons.lockergnome.com/">a coupon</a> first. </p> chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT http://coupons.lockergnome.com/ http://coupons.lockergnome.com/