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This is what the latest release (2.1.6) of my Yet Another Related Posts Plugin looked like under Mint, using my WordPress plugin downloads pepper, which in turn gets its data from wordpress.org:

It’s always interesting to see these release spikes in download traffic. Note that this release was on the Wednesday but that was during the day, so Wednesday’s traffic is still higher than the normal ~300/day level, while the big peak (by day) is on Thursday. Too bad wordpress.org doesn’t give me hourly stats, though I guess that would be a little ridiculous.

YARPP is just about at that 35k download mark. I’m looking forward to the next release. ^^

Mori no Ike veteran and friend Kikai (aka “The Machine”) scanned his copy of the 1996 Mori no Ike songbook distributed to villagers and staff:

Long long ago, in the tiny po-dunk town of Dent, Minnesota, population 156, where a rag-tag bunch of gaijin (guy-jean) lived hippy lives while wearing hapi clothes, spending their summer speaking, living, learning, eating and singing Japanese.

From those years past I now resurrect the sacred song book for anyone who is interested, to share, educate, or practice their Nihongo no Uta’s during what has come to be known as “the off season” for many villagers.

Catalogued and printed over 10 years ago, the 1996 song book for Mori No Ike, the Japanese language village of the Concordia Language Villages, is just as timely today as it was in years past. Hopefully, this online publication will help bring back songs that have dissappeared with the passing of sensei through the ranks, out of the camping life and on to wider and greater adventures.

Talk about kicking it old school. My question: what the heck is トンバイ?

Not sure how I missed this revolutionary new auto industry startup before,¹ but last week’s news that the State of Hawaii has signed up definitely caught my attention. Better Place’s ambitions plan involves a combination of smart invisible technology, quickly replaceable (not just rechargeable) batteries, and a business plan that makes drivers “subscribers.” I dug up a profile of the company, its plan, and its visionary, Shai Agassi, who definitely gets it:

When I ask Shai if he’s worried about a competitor stealing his idea, he stares at me like I’m an idiot. “The mission is to end oil,” he says, “not create a company.”

UPDATE: This story just came much closer to home.