Ten years ago, when I started going to the Bibliothèque Nationale de Luxembourg (BNL - the National Library of Luxembourg), the “poverty” of the library (e.g., infrastructure, resources, services, etc.) of the world's richest (if not mistaken) country shocked me. The BNL was so underdeveloped, when compared to many public and private libraries in the USA. More surprisingly, many libraries I had visited in Brussels, Paris, and other cities were not so nice, either.

(Just note that some BNL librarians appear to be cold and distant at first. But, when they get to know you, they can be friendly, very helpful, and even sweet.)

Over the last ten years, the BNL has improved dramatically, and has become one of the best/favorite libraries I know in the region so far. Although I still miss some aspects of American libraries – for example, specialized librarians (e.g., law librarians) and more conducive, competitive, extremely intense, and intellectually stimulating atmospheres for studying, I am OK with the BNL. Hope that it keeps improving in coming years.

However, talent management in Luxembourg concerns me/us greatly.

It is obvious that Luxembourg has an advantage in attracting people because of competitive salaries, benefits, etc. But, it may not be so good at retaining their top talents in some sectors (though, of course, there are really talented people in Luxembourg, but some of friends have been disenchanted. They have moved to other companies and countries with better opportunities).

There seems to be something dysfunctional: something does not ignite, but undermine the passion of people.

We posted the blog on the christmas markets in Strasbourg last Thursday.  But, of course, I wish the Christmas lights were powered by renewable energy.

If those markets have existed since Medieval times when there was no nuclear power, we can certainly make fabulous Christmas decorations without wasting too much energy.

Necessity is the mother of invention....  See the photo (with my folding bike).

電気を浪費しなくてできる、エコなクリスマスのデコレーション！こういういう町っていいなあ。

I would like one of my last blogs this year to be something hopeful and positive (although I am not happy at all with the current political situation of Japan).

Here are nice photos of the Christmas Markets in Strasbourg taken by our French friend, Cyril Hazotte. He kindly shares the photos under a Creative Commons license. Cyril has captured the spirit and the charm of the Christkindelsmärik there: all kinds of colorful gifts and ornaments; smells of hot wine, choucroute, and chocolates; all kinds of regional and foreign accents; dazzling lights; and a festive atmosphere.

The Christmas markets in Strasbourg were far nicer and more enchanting than I ever expected. I think they are nice for all ages: magical for kids, romantic for the couples, friendly and welcoming to the tourists and families, and appetizing to their dogs.

Now I am determined to learn to say “Hot wine, please” in German to visit Nuremberg's Christmas markets in the future!

Of course, we can use the title above with heavy sarcasm. For those who are interested to learn about the current Japanese issues, see below, for example:

Yesterday I (Japanese woman) went to two Chinese grocery stores in Luxembourg to buy a bag of Japanese rice from California, Korean seasoned seaweed, imperial-dragon gyoza wrappers, and Taiwan highland (gao shan) oolong tea.

In Mexico and Spain, people mistook me as a local resident and asked me directions in Spanish. Similarly, Chinese and Korean people often talk to me in their languages. Happily, I try to make conversation with them, using some words which I have learned from Chinese, Taiwan, and Korean friends over the years (i.e., hello, 1, 2, 3,..., delicious, so-so, it doesn't matter, thank you, see you, I love you, etc).

Maybe, it was just a figment of my imagination, but yesterday one of the Chinese owners was slightly distant, not as cheerful as usual. Though, later I realized that she put two extra oranges in my plastic bag for free. Then, I thought of the ongoing dispute over the islands among countries.

Today I was reading two articles by Gavan McCormack who presents background information about the territorial disputes (The first article is translated into 中文, 한국어, and 日本語): "Small Islands – Big Problem: Senkaku/Diaoyu and the Weight of History and Geography in China-Japan Relations".

For those who already read our article "Towards International and Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration for the Measurements of Quality of Life" in Social Indicators Research and have become interested in modeling, you may want to watch Tony Buzan's video on Mind Mapping. It may give you an idea of modeling as I think that modeling and his mapping are closely connected.

And, the book Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist (Second Edition - link to Morgan-Kaufmann Publishers) by Allemang and Hendler is very nice, very progressive and pedagogic to learn about modeling.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlabrWv25qQ

Our paper (with the title above) has been published and is available as "Online First" on SpringerLink now: www.springerlink.com

When we started creating our eLab in 2006-2007, it was probably one of the earliest ones. Now there are many eLabs, especially nice ones in the UK and other universities. Though, I understand that many researchers focus on eScience, while we are more interested in eSocial Science and measuring societal progress.

We have written the earlier versions of this paper for the last three years. And, as the time has passed, we have learned new stuff, and tried to make the paper shorter and less technical. Therefore, quite frankly, the paper is getting outdated as technology advances so quickly. Though, our article provides a general introduction to eSocial Science.

A good news is that we've got a new idea. Although we cannot go into details at this time, what we wish is we make it accessible and useful for as many people as possible.

We hope to update you about progress on this site (by the end of this year, if possible). Also, we will see you at future conferences and meetings! At the moment, we are interested in the 9th IEEE International Conference on e-Science in Beijin, China in 2013: escience2013.csp.escience.cn

Anti-nuclear protests are flourishing in Japan like hydrangeas that are in bloom everywhere now. A recent wave of protests is now called Ajisai Kakumei, or Hydrangea Revolution. I do not know who has started to call it, but it is nice as it reflects Japan's ikebana culture. More importantly, I believe that ajisai symbolizes tenacity, and the protesters are as hardy and prolific as ajisai flowers.

Reportedly, 200,000 people gathered outside Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's official residence in Tokyo on June 29, protesting against the restart of a nuclear power plant. It was one of the largest public protests since 1960s. Also, many more people protested in other big cities.

For example:

See 1) the video: people are shouting "Saikadou Hantai, or No Restart (the reactors at the Ohi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture)" and "Noda Koso Yamero, or Noda Quit (It is Noda who have to quit)." www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfyFZ_yk7qQ