TriNetre - Archive for April 05, 2004
(no longer updated)
This is great. The only feature request I had with Enigmail was the ability to define the encryption settings (whether to use PGP/MIME, inline PGP, sign or encrypt etc.) for each email address. Now v 0.83.6 adds the backend support for per-recipient encryption settings into the system, which will be followed by a GUI in the next release. Great work Patrick Brunschwig and team!
A very interesting conversation is going on at Joi Ito's blog. The whole thing started when Joi Ito posted his thoughts on foreigners trying to imitate the Japanese way of doing things, like the way they hand out business cards, or bow. Joi says:
The first time I read the article, I shared the same sentiments as one of the commenters Stefanos, when he said:
Joi Ito puts that to rest by answering:
Oh... and I would rather not be viewed as American thank you. ;-)
A very interesting conversation overall. Though I have been working in a Japanese company for about a year, my interactions with Japanese in person have been limited. From this limited exposure, my conclusions were different from that of Joi's. My boss and other Japanese colleagues do appreciate it when I try to imitate (in whatever limited way I can) some of the Japanese way of doing things. Though I have not tried the business card "ritual", my "-san" and bowing have been well received, at the least in spirit.
That said, I would be very surprised if someone came up to me and addressed me "...ji" or gave me a "Namaskar". Surprised, but not awkward or uncomfortable.
I guess what Joi meant was that rather than imitate the Japanese (or for that matter any foreign) way of performing certain actions in just the superficial performing of that action, it makes more sense to understand the reasoning behind the ways and use that understating to manage your "foreign" ways so as not to offend the hosts.
