For the record.

Working from home, May 2020.

Since I was fortunate to have a room for my own to setup my tele-work environment, that certainly helped me concentrate on work. It did help in achieving a lot effectively, but it came with some negatives. Since I apparently was so focused and somewhat overly concentrating, the days usually wound up noticing myself completely exhausted. In addition to the work space, I guess that focusing all day on your PC display which is the one and only connection to your team and company drains most of your energy at the end of the day. Controlling yourself, snapping yourself out of the concentration for a break once in a while is important. I actually experienced swollen legs from sitting at the desk all day. Getting away from the displays and going out for a short walk at lunch time also helps a lot.

Lessons learned. A nice experience to actually learn how you can or cannot manage yourself in a tele-work situation.

Looking through the closet to find something I can turn into a cycle basket, out comes a jute shopping bag I recall getting at the Hethrow Airport Duty Free. Looks nice as a casual cycling basket by fixing the frame to it.

The jute bag is strong enough and the fram fits perfectly size wise.

Actually looks fancy. Can't wait to use it on my next shopping chore.

In the press conference declaring the state of emergency to stop the corona virus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged Japanese citizens to reducing person-to-person contact by 80%. If successfully achieved, Japan could avoid an explosive rise and turn the curve downwards in a month. Since Japan cannot enforce a lock down legally banning citizens from going outside, the consciousness of each and every citizen to actively aim this number becomes important.

In my case, reducing person-to-person contact by 80% from my usual days including my commute on the train would become around 20 people. If I were to count strictly the people who come within my social distance of 2 meters, this 18 people/day turns out to be quite difficult to achieve since the majority of people aren't aware of social distancing and walk by you so closely without any bad faith. They even give you a grin if you try to back off. I am not aware of any stores that have any signs of keeping distance inside, except COSTCO which is of US origin. If I were to seriously aim for less than 20, I'd have to give up my daily jog (walk in public) to achieve it. IF everyone become aware of social distancing and seriously abides by it, I believe it will work.

I plan to keep a day by day record of how many person-to-person contact I have made, to keep myself conscious of this 80% target which all Japanese citizens have to keep in mind for the next month.

• 04/09: approx. 20ppl
• 04/10: approx. 20ppl
• 04/11: approx. 10ppl
• 04/12: 0ppl
• 04/13: 0ppl
• 04/14: 2ppl
• 04/15: 0ppl
• 04/16: approx. 10ppl
• 04/17: approx. 20ppl
• 04/18: 0ppl
• 04/19: 5ppl
• 04/20: 1ppl
• 04/21: 0ppl
• 04/22: 10ppl
• 04/23: 20ppl
• 04/24: 0ppl
• 04/25: 0ppl
• 04/26: 5ppl
• 04/27: 0ppl
• 04/28: 0ppl
• 04/29: 3ppl
• 04/30: 0ppl
• 05/01: 5ppl
• 05/02: 3ppl
• 05/03: 5ppl
• 05/04: 5ppl
• 05/05: 5ppl
• 05/06: 0ppl
• 05/07: 0ppl
• 05/08: 1ppl
• 05/09: 2ppl

* Stopping the recording of social distancing as of May 9, since it has fulfilled the role of keeping me conscious of person2person contact to the point that it is now in my blood.

• Asahi.com "Experts: Small fraction could derail social distancing plan" - http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13287260

Canon USA has released a beta version software 'EOS Webcam Utility Beta' that turns select Canon EOS Cameras into webcams.

Everyone's relying on video calls to stay connected during this #stayhome time, and webcams and video boards are difficult to find even if you're willing to pay. This utility solves that for EOS users.

I've installed the utility on my Win10 UMPC：GPD Pocket that doesn't have an integrated camera, hooked my EOS M6 Mark II to it via USB and it worked just fine on ZOOM.

The image quality is obviously much high compared to the low-res webcam images we've become used to these days, and it's easy to notice at a glance.

Good job Canon.

note: It is a beta version with no support outside of the US. Use it at your own risk.

• Canon USA:EOS Webcam Utility Beta - https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/self-help-center/eos-webcam-utility/

About replacing my broken 10 year old WiFi access point with an 11ac enabled one. Turns out latest features improve my home network user experience. The WiFi band steering feature on the Buffalo access point enables optimal 11ac/11n switching automatically depending on the signal strength needless of any user intervention...cool !

Another unexpected improvement (should have imagined, my oversight) was that the extended signal range in new generation access points enables me to reduce the number of Access points from 3 to 2. (Yes, I needed 3 to cover my small apartment full of walls !) The new access point also uses some technology that pinpoints and aims at the client device in transferring the wireless signal. Wow, technology improvements !

I guess it does make sense to invest in your network infrastructure once in a while.

Amazon Japan:

• 【Amazon.co.jp 限定】BUFFALO WiFi 無線LAN ルーター WSR-A2533DHP2-CB 11ac ac2600 1733+800Mbps デュアルバンド IPv6対応 日本メーカー 4LDK 3階建向け