Twitter for 2010-03-07

  • Future MLB player (!) OF Norichika Aoki interviewed in English on asahi.com. His baseball hero is Derek Jeter. http://bit.ly/cXOSor #
  • Daisuke Matsuzaka says he feels better, in a better spot than the past. But might not be ready by Opening Day. #RedSox http://bit.ly/bUdjWw #
  • Prince Fielder's choreographed walk-off HR celebration last September. Was drilled by Barry Zito for it today. http://bit.ly/cuVNs6 #
  • Ichiro just hit a run scoring triple. Oh man, I am already loving this MLB At Bat app on my iPhone, twi days into spring training. #
  • So, #RedSox loses 5-0 to Twins. Should we let the "good defense doesn't score runs" argument begin? Sox no longer undefeated. (was quick) #
  • And Joe Nelson saves the game with his Vulcan change-up, and #RedSox is undefeated in the Grapefruit League. Half game up on Yanks :) #
  • Mark Wagner drives in Josh Reddick in the bottom 8th. 2-1 #RedSox If Joe Nelson can hold 1 run lead, ex-Hanshin Scott Atchison will get "W" #
  • Though not likely to make out of the Spring in the Majors, I am rooting for Scott Atchison. He is scheduled to pitch top 8th. #RedSox #
  • Quoting @PeteAbe: Hideki Okajima put 2 runners on with 1 out but escaped damage. Not the most exciting game in Mayor's Cup history. #
  • Hideki Okajima's on for Top4: Casilia grounds to short, Scutaro makes what sounds like a speutacular play. If only I could watch it! #RedSox #
  • I guess there is no NESN or MLB.TV for the Min-#RedSox game tonight? Beckett to start, Hideki Okajima to go 3rd & former Hanshin Atchson 7th #
  • @imthepeanut It's just like the original Super Mario, at the end of World 2-3. See 1:07 of this YouTube video http://bit.ly/aUQjKg in reply to imthepeanut #
  • @maineroots Thank you sir, Appreciate your kind words! in reply to maineroots #
  • I've master the art of getting unlimited 1-UPs in New Super Mario Bro. Wii (in 2-3), but is it encouraging my son to cheat, by example? #fb #
  • I missed this, but Junichi Tazawa pitched the third inning against BC, went three up, three down. Two strikeouts. Nice. #RedSox #
  • Awesome, wish I were there. RT @Mueller11: Going to #RedSox #SpringTraining? Check out Lansdowne Street (vlog post): http://bit.ly/aZWvFM #
  • I know it is against college teams, but David Ortiz' 3-run homer and Jose Iglesias' 3-run double in his first at-bat as a #RedSox Excited. #
  • Great story by @IanMBrowne about Japan's knuckleball princess Eri Yoshida and Tim Wakefield #RedSox http://bit.ly/aNZIGo #
  • Photo gallery of Eri Yoshida w/her hero Wakefield. Awesome. She is even wearing "49" shirt! via @britaoutzen http://bit.ly/9y0OoE #RedSox #
  • Photo of Eri Yoshida, Japanese female knuckleball pitcher, meeting her hero Tim Wakefield via Sponichi http://bit.ly/9DUdlr #RedSox #
  • Whoa! Japan's "Knuckleball Princess" Eri Yoshida gets contract offer from Chico Outlaws, independent league. http://bit.ly/bEaIUc #
  • Good read. All the defensive calculations madness. I love that stuff, though. "UZR you serious?" by Chris Gasper http://bit.ly/bUPJpK #
  • Stat: DefEff (Defensive Efficiency), % of balls put into play converted. Bottom 3: KC .673 HOU .676 & #RedSox at .677. http://bit.ly/bgYX6I #
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How to beat the New Super Mario Brothers Wii

I got my parents to send my son New Super Mario Brothers Wii for his Christmas present this past Christmas. And honestly, I think I am enjoying it more than he is. To tell you the truth, I am absolutely loving it. I have spent way too many hours playing the original Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) machine, or “Fami-Com” (short for Family Computer) in my youth. Between that and the original “Dragon Quest” and “Zelda” I decided in my young age that I wanted to become a game programmer when I grow up. It is so funny that my son now wants to be “Lego Designer” when he grow up, and who can blame him, that sounds like a great job and I hope he does!

Anyways, I thought I’d share couple of cheats and tricks that I learned here about the New Super Mario Brothers. Basically, if you have a lot of lives (You can go up to 99 lives, and when that happens, Mario will lose his hat!) and a lot of map items (ones you can use while in the map view) chance is you will beat the game. Here is my guide to how to maximize your life and map items. Once you have those, you can use awesome Walkthrough guide by IGN to beat the game.

Unlimited 1-UP in World 2-3.

I loved this when I was playing the original Super Mario. But It was a lot harder to do since if you miss your chance, you had to start over. You I guess some call this technique “Tipping turtle.” But basically, if you jump on the turtle coming down from the stair, and lock into the loop of kick and you get unlimited (actually up to 99) lives. For the best timing, jump as the turtle is just coming down 2-steps higher than you. Watch this YouTube video’s about 1:07 (below).

Get “Red Mushroom House” when you rescue “Toad” (or Kinopio)

I hate the name “Taod” by the way. We call him Kinopio (as in mix of Pinocchio and Kinoko – mushroom) in Japan and I think it sounds much better. But, I digress… When you rescue him from a trapped world, you get a bonus house. Sometimes its Green, sometimes it’s Gold, and sometimes it’s Red. We want a Red Mushroom House because that is where you get the map items. This is not random. It depends on what the “time left” (upper right corner of the screen) clock’s 1-digit number, when you cross the finish line (meaning, touch the flag poll). If first digit is 4, 5, 6 or 7, then you get Red House. 0, 1, 2 or 3 is Green 1-UP, and 8 or 9 is Gold. For example, if you have 234, 197, 025, or 006 then you’ll get it. So start jumping at “7″.

Get all the item from “Red Mushroom House”

There are 18 panels, 9 matching pairs, in the Red Mushroom House. Of two pairs are bad guys (Bowser and Bowser Jr.), so you can get maximum of 7 items. You can get them all every time. There are only 6 variations of cards layout in each of the world. So, all you have to do is Just go here and print it out, and try turning a few cards, find out which pattern it is, and avoid the bad guys. Easy, huh?

Good luck! I enjoyed writing this. This blog called videogamesblogger.com was also very useful resource.

Posted in Tech, Gadget, and Computer | Leave a comment

Lots of Red Sox talks, – twitter highlight for 2010-02-28

  • Okajima vs notable lefties: Nick Markakis 4 for 18, Johnny Damon 2 for 11, Carl Crawford 1 for 10, Carlos Pena 1 for 6 http://bit.ly/agQXVd #
  • Amazing, @PeteAbe talked to #RedSox LHP Hideki Okajima. He never talks! "Boston has been good for me." http://bit.ly/agQXVd #
  • Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo have to serve two years in the South Korean military before he turns 30. He is 27. Interesting. #
  • Geez, big earthquake (M7.3) near Okinawa in Japan. Hope all is OK. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ #
  • Thank you for #FollowFriday shoutouts! @BostonOlson @BoSoxNewsFeed @Spellingqueen81 @neildomass @redsoxlucas @xBeantownBabyx @NCSoxFan79 in reply to BostonOlson #
  • Daisuke Matsuzaka talked to Herald's Steve Buckley. Wants to "give the team the opportunity to win." http://bit.ly/c7Ec35 #
  • @billthatdude Norichika Aoki still have 4 more years till Intl FA, so after 2013 season. But he could be posted like Iwamura after '12. in reply to billthatdude #
  • @billthatdude Igarashi before the elbow surgery would have been great, but after the surgery he was not as dominating and a little wild. in reply to billthatdude #
  • Japan's Mao Asada was AWESOME, but Korea's Kim Yu-Na was UNBELIEVABLE. Amazing how they are so focused under that pressure. #Olympic #
  • Live BP for new #Mets Japanese pitchers! RT @lenno212 Takahashi and Igarashi scheduled to throw live BP today. #
  • Oh, Mike Lowell. I feel you. I hope they find you a new team, where you can start. One of my all time favorite #RedSox http://bit.ly/dBbI78 #
  • Whoa, Kim Yu-Na beats Mao Asada with all time high 78.50 to 73.79. Japan rejected Gold yet again! Both flawless performances though #Olympic #
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Foursquare, Tumblr and my iPhone

I love eating good food. It brings me joy. It is funny that with iPhone, you can make restaurant log and reviews so easily. When I go out, I first check in with Foursquare and then take picture, post it on my Tumblr Food Log and then (if I have time) I review it on Yelp. SInce I like eating Asian food, I am hoping that this will automatically be a semi good guide to Asian food in Boston. Beautiful part is that if I wanted to do that before, it required a lot of work, but using those different tools, it is updated pretty easily. Above map is my check in locations displayed using website called checkoutcheckins.com. I wish there was a good mash up that uses all three of those data… I may try to cook up a simple API… Or I guess FriendFeed will have all of that fed in already…

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Twitter log for week of Feb. 21

Twitter… Calm before baseball season. I can’t wait to do the in-game tweet, which I feel the best part of the twitter. One more week before the exhibition games start.
This week, I tweeted about some Olympic stuff and some such.

Read More »

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What is…

What is it?

It is patient
It is kind.
It rejoices with truth.
It bears, believes, hopes and endures all things.
and it never ends.

It does not envy,
it does not boast.
It is not arrogant,
it is not rude.
it does not insist on its own way,
and it is not irritable or resentful.

The answer is in 1 Corinthians 13:4-13, thanks to my lovely wife.

Happy Valentines Day.

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Twitter log, all about Hisanori Takahashi, Feb. 14

Funny that this week I only had 10 twitter updates but three of them were Hisanori Takahashi. Takahashi signed with Mets. I know he doesn’t throw as hard, but he has a good command and, who knows, could be good. I have stopped predicting how Japanese players do, since I thought Fukudome was going to be great (he is not bad, just way over paid…) and and Okajima will be a bust… which I was happy to be wrong about.

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Great reading on Bobby Valentine, by Robert Whiting

Valentine in the air after winning the Japan Series in 2005

“You gotta have Wa” author Robert Whiting has just concluded crazy 4-part series about how once-super-popular Bobby Valentine was almost jettisoned from Chiba Lotte Marines, on Japan Times online.

Fascinating, in a nasty way. Sounds like the club went above and beyond trying to make Valentine’s last season hell, hoping to push him out. Great read for people who are interested in Japanese baseball of good and bad. Cooprate style communication (or lack there of) and the mob mentality of Japanese culture is very frustrating. It is almost like bullying. The reason for his firing? Money. He was making more than double of what other managers of NPB make. Quick internet search showed that Valentine was said to make about $4 million a year, where others like Ochiai (Chunichi) and Nomura (Rakuten) made $1.5 million, and Hara (Giants) was at $1 million. (Note: This is probably not an actual figure, since Japanese baseball don’t make those figure public, but you get the idea…)

I thought it was very strange that Valentine made known his intention to make the 2009 season his last with the team before the season, and announcement on his blog during the season (and it appears that it is his last post on the web). He was enomously popular that there even was a small shrine in his honor, but I guess it was dismissed during the season (off the track a bit, but remember Cabrera Jizo? it was for former-Seibu Lions sluger Alex Cabrera). Fans collected petition to keep him as a mamager, campaigned against the team. Examples includes nasty blog posting targeting some front-office personels especially Yoko Yoneda (1, 2), and banners protesting the parent company’s decision in the stands.

Here are some excerpts from his announcement. He keeps it classy. But Now I read it, the frustation can be found in those words:

…But this season many people around me and I were presented with a very challenging and confusing situation. Lask week Acting Owner Shigemitsu came to my office and I had a chance to speak privately with him one-on-one for the first time since last July. I thanked him for visiting me and apologized for the poor performance of the team. We reassured each other that our friendship remained the same and I felt grateful for it. And most importantly, I came to feel that for me to leave the team at the end of the 2009 season is best for the Shigemitsu family and for the Chiba Lotte Marines, and so I wanted to make this announcement about the decision as soon as possible.
…(SNIP)…
Please view this announcement as my determination to make Chiba Lotte Marines baseball fun once again, for our fans and for each member of the team. I have always felt victory was shallow–and true victory was impossible–if the attempt to gain it was not fun. This year has not been fun for anyone who truly loves the Chiba Lotte Marines, so I will make a renewed effort to make this 2009 season the most fun that it can possibly be, and one that we will all remember and cherish for our lifetimes. To help me with this effort and to inspire the team, I would like you, the greatest fans in the world, to cheer for us more than ever.

He concludes with “Let’s play fun baseball again.” That positive attitude, like focusing on the “fun” of it, was probably why he was so successful, in the world of “no pain, no gain” Japanese baseball.

Posted in Asian Issues, Baseball | 1 Comment

Twitter for 2010-02-07

  • Eri Yoshida pitched better in her second try RT @jt_sports Female knuckleballer Yoshida plugging away despite the odds http://ow.ly/16w7ej #
  • Here is my @GlobeChadFinn inspired blog post: How will Japanese players fare in 2010, the Bill James Handbook http://bit.ly/9bG5y0 #
  • 2010 Bill James Handbook's projected number for Daisuke Matsuzaka: 32G 195IP 12W-10L 4.02ERA, 184K 83BB 184H 21HR #RedSox #
  • Not official yet, but here already is a tribute to Nomar Garciaparra who "widely expected that he will retire" #RedSox http://bit.ly/ahz5xm #
  • Here is the depressing part of working late shifts.I look up, it's 6 p.m. and I still have 6 hours to go… Sigh… #
  • Whoa! Controversial Yokozuna Asashoryu retires in wake of scandal! Possibly the most dominating #Sumo wrestler, ever. http://bit.ly/bClOA9 #
  • Hisanori Takahashi has minor league offers from #RedSox, SF, SD & LAD. Declined NYM & BAL. From Hochi. via @npbtracker http://bit.ly/aguVuy #
  • Saints LB Scott Fujita: "I have no Japanese blood in my body, have a Jpnz heart." Even has Go For Broke 442 connection http://bit.ly/9KqW2L #
  • Now, isn't this interesting. Maybe Randy Winn was the difference. ;) "BP changes projection, now lists Yanks over Sox" http://bit.ly/byqIdX #
  • MLB suing Upper Deck, the baseball card company, for $2.4M? Topps has exclusive contract in '10. It's messy. http://bit.ly/ccPRIr #
  • @Eukadanz Only Ramen place in Boston that I know that is half decent is Ken's in Allston, by Super 88. I'd go for Pho instead myself. in reply to Eukadanz #
  • Shingo Takatsu may become closer for Sinon Bulls in the Taiwanese League. Be first to record save in Japan, MLB, Korea and Taiwan. #
  • Just realizing that the #RedSox Opening Day, April 4 vs NY Yankees at Fenway, is the Easter Sunday this year. Mmmm. #
  • Story of 2 Japanese aces from 2003. Both were seen as going to be major leaguers, but not looking so good now. http://bit.ly/dBjVLC #
  • My first MLB exposure was McGwire/Canseco w/A's… RT @nytimessports McGwire Is Testing a Loyal Baseball Town http://bit.ly/cUGdxY #
  • Whoa, remember BK? Good for him. RP Byung-Hyun Kim (86 career SVs) comes out of retirement, signs minor league deal w/SF Giants. via @espn #
  • Non-baseball, but Apple's Steve Jobs says "Adobe is lazy, no one will be using Flash. World is moving to HTML5." http://bit.ly/9sSxOD #fb #
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How will Japanese players fare in 2010, according to the Bill James Handbook

Bill Jamese Handbook 2010I was inspired by Boston Globe’s Chad Finn’s posting on Extra Bases blog called Some interesting numbers via Bill James , and decided to look up what the projections of Japanese players for the year 2010 from the 2010 edition of the Bill James Handbook.

According to James and his company, Ichiro will make History and become the only player ever to record 200 or more hits in 10 or more seasons (also extending his own record of consecutive years). Many people would expect Ichiro to do this (yours truly included) and it continues to amaze me taht every year, so much expectation is riding on him.

Speaking of expectation, James predicts that Daisuke Matsuzaka will rebound and pitch 195 innings, which would be second most since 2007. Even though his win-loss ratio is projected to be lower than the first 2 years of his career, I think most Red Sox nation will be happy to have him go 195 innings and 12-10. Project 184Ks wil he his second highest in his MLB career as well.

Another projected career high is former Chunichi Dragons Kosuke Fukudome’s HR and RBI. Fukudome had 10-58 rookie year and 11-54 last year. James projection for 2010 is 13-61. Not a huge jump but higher than last two years is encouraging (though it does not match his salery… but that is not really his fault. – debate for another day perhaps.)

I would have like to see what the projection for Kenshin Kawakami (another former Chunichi Dragons) would be like. I assume they didn’t project his number, probably because the calculation was done before Javier Vasquez trade, without of which would have made Kawakami out of Braves rotation. His record 7-12 in 2009 was disappointing. I didn’t get to watch may of his games, I admit, but ones that I saw, he wasn’t too bad. I’d imagine his projection would have been close to .500 winning percentage. Also interesting note is that Koji Uehara has 2 saves. and Hideki Matsui is projected for 23 home runs, but he is hoping that Angels use him in the outfield and get more at bats, it is not impossible to surpass his MLB career home run record of 31, set in 2004 (his second MLB years). I can’t wait for the season to begin!

2010 Japanese Hitter Projections

Name Team Age G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI RC RC27 BB SO SB CS SB% AVG OBP SLG OPS
Matsui, H LAA 36 139 507 143 27 1 23 75 88 87 6.2 65 81 1 1 0.5 282 367 475 842
Ichiro SEA 36 157 658 210 23 4 9 95 50 99 5.64 43 73 27 8 0.77 319 365 407 772
Fukudome CHC 33 147 520 138 39 3 13 76 61 80 5.37 79 120 7 5 0.58 265 365 427 792
Matsui, K HOU 34 125 445 117 24 2 8 60 40 54 4.22 33 82 16 5 0.76 263 317 380 696
Iwamura PIT 31 128 504 146 28 5 4 76 40 72 5.14 60 95 12 6 0.67 290 367 389 756
Name Team Age AVG OBP SLG OPS
Matsui, H LAA 36 282 367 475 842
Ichiro SEA 36 319 365 407 772
Fukudome CHC 33 265 365 427 792
Matsui, K HOU 34 263 317 380 696
Iwamura PIT 31 290 367 389 756

2010 Japanese Pitcher Projections

Name Team Age G GS IP H HR BB SO HB W L Pct Sv BR/9 ERA
Okajima BOS 34 65 0 58 51 6 19 53 1 4 2 0.667 0 11 3.26
Matsuzaka BOS 29 32 32 195 184 21 83 184 10 12 10 0.545 0 12.8 4.02
Tazawa BOS
Uehara BAL 35 25 25 143 145 17 39 123 1 9 7 0.688 2 9.6 4.22
Saito ATL 40 56 0 60 52 5 18 62 4 5 2 0.714 0 11.1 3.00
Kawakami ATL
Igarashi NYM
Kuroda LAD 35 22 21 128 127 16 35 85 1 8 6 0.571 0 11.5 3.80
Ohka FA 34 20 4 76 88 14 21 42 6 3 5 0.375 0 13.6 5.33
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