I'm spending a day in Tokyo, and expect to have pistachios with me, so I had to find out if Japan allows them to transit.

Most types of nuts (with the exception of walnuts, which are prohibited) may be brought into Japan, particularly if they are salted, dried, or roasted.

[ Consulate General of Japan ]

I'm sure this will come up on Jeopardy in the next week, or be a vital fact that a friend needs to know.

Update: The prohibition of Walnuts is not due to a dislike of Walnuts, or an aversion to Walnuts, but an attempt to keep pests out of Japanese crops.

Cowboy Bebop is the tale of a futuristic maverick, Spike Spiegel, a space cowboy and his band of partners (Jet Black, Faye Valentine, Edward, and lets not forget Ein the dog), as they race across the galaxy on daring adventures. They are Bounty Hunters struggling to survive in a world that is a strange combination of past, present, and future. There are fantastic space crafts and interstellar casinos side by side with droopy sombreros and slow traffic lights. With each new bounty that they go after, new characters are introduced, and new cosmic landscapes are explored.

[ 3,2,1 Lets Jam! Emily's Cowboy Bebop Page ]

I heard it was good. And I resisted. But then, after a night at D&B's with da boys, I needed some wind down time. Low, and behold, on Adult Swim, Cowboy Bebop. And, now, I think I'm stuck. Just added vol 1 to my NetFlix queue, and looking forward to seeing the movie.

This is just one page of them, “mens” on the side brings up many more. I think I have found the ultimate collection of shirts for me.

Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii! This shirt speaks the language of the unique culture of the Hawaiian Islands—a language full of sunshine and warmth. Whether worn on a business casual Friday or a special occasion, this shirt will bring the great Aloha spirit into the day.

[ JadeFashion.com - Shop ]

Casual Friday, bah, casual everyday! And they have a Hawaiian Wedding shirt too, so stylish, but still a bit laid back.

If you love words like I love words, you'll love this monthly column.

The Word Detective on the Web is the online version of The Word Detective, a newspaper column answering readers' questions about words and language. The Word Detective is written by Evan Morris and appears in finer newspapers in the U.S., Mexico and Japan.

[ The Word Detective ]

Apparently this is also “in print” in something called a “newspaper”, but I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the regular Internet version.

Actress Mary-Kate Olsen, left, 18, who is recovering from treatment for an eating-disorder, and her sister Ashley Olsen, 18, touch their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in this April 29, 2004...

[ Yahoo! News - Entertainment Photos - AP ]

What I wonder is if they will become some sort of eating disorder/twins study. Why one twin would have an eating disorder and the other wouldn't. Presumably they have had as similar genetic background and upbringing as any two people can.

Now officially the "Nintendo DS", the style has been tweaked a bit, based on feedback from E3, I expect:

The retooled Nintendo DS features a thinner, black base and an angular platinum flip-top cover. The face buttons and shoulder buttons are larger, and some have been reconfigured for optimum use. The unit includes a new storage slot for the touch screens stylus, and the speakers now broadcast in stereo sound, with or without headphones.

[ News : Article ]

Honestly, I expected it to change a bit more, but the encouraging news is that 120 games are in development for it. If only 1/5th of those are available at launch time (and since it plays GBA games), it could be rather successful. Now the big question is: how much?

I don't know what original story they refer to here, but this looks like the next good platformer/adventure out for the GBA.

Control Yoh in an all-new adventure and use his powers as a Shaman to fight nefarious foes and train to become the Shaman King! Friends Anna and Morty and rivals Len and Rio make appearances along with the rest of the cast from the animated TV series and comic book. Master awesome abilities and attacks like Yoh's Celestial Slash and perfect Spirit Unity on your path to becoming the new Shaman King!

[ Konami Digital Entertainment ]

Perhaps not in time for my trip, so I may need to get Mario v Donkey Kong and Mario Golf Advance, for the long, long plane ride. And then, of course, I might pick up something strange in Akiba...

This sounds rather nifty to me:

New Atlanta Communications, a leading producer of advanced server-side technologies, is pleased to announce a technology preview of BlueDragon for the Microsoft .NET Framework, the newest version of its BlueDragon product family for deploying ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) web applications, is now available for download and testing. Deployment options now range from BlueDragon Server, a standalone CFML application server, to any Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE™) and Microsoft .NET application server.

[ New Atlanta Corporate News ]

I did try and get the 6.0 release, standalone version, running with some code, and I had a few issues, but none that would make me question any of their claims (it was a half hearted attempt). Running on top of .NET sounds interesting, but I am curious how it works in reality. And what ability do I have to extend my code with .NET?

Anyone with a bit of extra time on their hands could feel free to research this, and let me know what you think. Really, go ahead, I won't stop you.

In the last few years, Japan has become a rising force in a wide swath of fashion-focused industries, from kids' toys to entertainment, cell phones, and car racing. In an April report, Tsutomu Sugiura, director of the Marubeni Research Institute, figured Japan's cultural exports, including music, books, magazines, films, handicrafts, collectibles, patent royalties, and performances at $15 billion in 2002, up from $5 billion in 1992.

[ Yahoo! News ]

This is quite a shock to me. Perhaps I've been too busy playing my Nintendo and watching Cartoon Network to notice this trend. I wonder what sort of influence the Japanese have had on my life? Certainly I don't have any music, books, magazines, films, handicrafts, or collectibles from Japan, or do I? Perhaps Yahoo is on to something here...

It does make my PC look like a Mac. And it is certainly pretty. And with the newest version, it doesn't run slow as molasses anymore, or act really buggy.

ObjectDock is a free program that allows you to have a nice animated launchbar/taskbar on your screen that reacts to your mouse when you mouse over it.

[ Stardock Corporation - Innovation on demand ]

And you can pickup extension modules called Docklets from WinCustomize.

Web.config and App.config have can have many different configuration options but it is difficult to remember what some of the less commonly used options are. This article provides a schema definition for .NET configuration files such as Web.config and App.config. The schema makes Visual Studio .NET help you out by displaying intellisense when working in these files.

[ Get Intellisense for Web.config and App.config in Visual Studio .NET ]

The one caveat of removing the xmlns just before saving is a small price to pay. What I don't understand is if it is this easy, why wouldn't the architects of VS.NET have put this in but with a bit more finesse?

I had forgotten about Gradius. I played so much back in the NES/SNES days...

In playing through the levels, we were surprised at how completely faithful the gameplay was. The changes are almost entirely cosmetic and the main difference is that the 3D opens up a few new possibilities in enemy movement, but that's the main extent of it.

[ PlayStation 2: E3 2004: Gradius V - Hands-On ]

Another reason the PS2 is now calling my name. And check out this sexy video of the game play. Of course if it was Life Force for PS2, I'd already own one...

I've got a couple Zelda re-releases and a “collection” disk. I've got the Sonic re-release “collection” disk. I tried the Mega Man one, but it's too hard for someone who doesn't have the same free time that he did as a child. I've checked out a bunch of the Mario re-releases, but I've never been the biggest Mario fan. What's missing? (Besides a re-release of Kid Icarus). Castlevania!

Through the incantations and ceremonies of evil souls who wished to bring upon the end of the world, Dracula had arisen, and his army of the undead began to terrorize once again. Simon Belmont, the great-grandson of Soleiyu, took his mighty whip and set out for Dracula's castle. He fought his way through the beckoning countryside and through six torturous sections of the Count's castle before confronting him.

[ Game FAQs: Castlevania Series Story FAQ ]

Konami has done some good with the contra series, trying to reinvent it, and I applaud their effort. Now can the do a collection disk with all the old Castlevania games? It's about the only series left that begs me to buy vintage systems and hunt out these games.

And, I'm currently replaying Castlevania: AoS, and it's just as good as the first time (almost, since I didn't wipe my memory). Come on Konami, please! I'd even buy a PS2 if that's the only platform it was on...