AF News

Friday, March 14, 2014

International Driving Permit/License - Okinawa

International Driving Permit 

 So I needed an international driving permit (IDP) for my trip to South Korea pronto. I am normally on top of getting everything I need to travel way ahead of time, but this slipped mine mind completely! Normally you would have to mail your IDP application back to the States, and then wait for it to get back, but I didn’t have that much time. It would take a month going that route, mailing back and forth, and I figured there had to be a way to get one here on the island. Well come to find out, there is! You got to take a trip down by the ASHIBINAA Outlet Mall area, more specially, just down the street past the mall. No joke, the place you have to go is right there, way easy to find, right behind the Nissan dealership. Anywho, if you still have time to mail the IDP application back to the states, you can order an IDP from  two places ONLY. The AATA and AAA are the only authorized IDP issuers in the States, so don’t fall for the scams that are floating out there. Here the links…



Alright, here is the address to the place and a picture of what the building looks like…

Address:  3-22 Toyosaki, Tomigusuku-shi, Okinawa-ken

Google Map Link:  http://goo.gl/maps/XQY6b

3-22 Toyosaki, Tomigusuku-shi, Okinawa-ken
Here is info off the internet about what to bring to the place. My Japanese friend printed it up and translated the key parts for me. I do want to note that you can do this at some office near Gate 5, but it takes weeks to get back, and I don’t know exactly where it is. I think they basically take all your paperwork and then send it to the main IDP office anyways. Better off driving there yourself….

IDP Information

IDP Information
The main things to note…

1. SOFA license has to be good for over a year.

2. Bring Passport. I don’t know why they need it, but they want to see it.

3. Picture. I used the photo booth right there in the front of the Kadena BX. I would get pictures as close to the size you need for the IDP. Don’t stress too much about it though, you can get pictures done there at the IDP office.

4. Yen

5. Mind the hours, they are closed during lunch.

Well, I was smart and went after their lunch hour and there was barely anyone there. I was in and out in less than 20 minutes, but your mileage may vary. I even got there super fast from Kadena, took the express way all the way down, and no traffic! Friday, was a good day… =) Anyways, They make it right there while you wait. When you go into the building, you should see a sign like the one pictured below …

Near the Front Door of IDP Office

If not, they speak English in there, so you should be fine asking someone. I had to go to counter 10 when I went. And you will find the English language application form there. Here is what you do. Grab the form first, fill it out at the fill out station, then go to the middle counters to pay the fee, and THEN you can take everything to them to start your IDP. Overall, it was way simple and easy to do. I was nice enough to grab the English language application for ya’ll viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

IDP Application English 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

U.S. Consulate General Naha, Okinawa Japan

I was in the legal office on Kadena AB the other day and they had hand-outs for a lot of government offices around the island. Offices for marriage certs and birth certs, stuff of that nature. I grabbed the Consulate map, because I figure that would be the most popular one of the bunch. So here it is and bam! I just saved you a trip to the legal office!

U.S. Consulate General Naha, Okinawa Japan

Monday, March 10, 2014

Antminer U1 Review

Antminer U1

I managed to find a used Antminer U1 floating around in the area and said, “what the hell, why not!?”, and bought it. Well it was super easy to setup and I am chugging along at 2Gh right now on a mining pool. I am not sure I am going to meet ROI on it, but we shall see what it does this week. I found a good site with instructions on how to set it up and it was as simple as plugging it in the USB slot and hitting go! The link to that site is here…


Here is the link to the mining pool I am using. I am just mining BTC only, but you can set it up to mine whatever the pool mines…



I will update in a week to see how much BTC I made, if any…

Bitcoin/Litecoin Mining

I decided to create a couple of pages on my experiences mining Bitcoin/Litecoin and some information of my mining setup as well. The links are on the right side under the 'pages' menu.


Also, I just remembered I didn't mention where you can get some basic mining parts here on the island. While I haven't searched super extensively here, the Goodwill stores, the one off the Hwy 58 near Kadena and in Naha, have all the basic 12v power adapters. For example, PCIe 6-pin to Molex or SATA power split connectors, and every other configuration you might need. This will allow you to use every 12v power connection from your power supplies. They also have a wide-range of PSUs, video cards, and motherboards. I am sure you can find this stuff online a little cheaper, but once you factor in the shipping/taxes, and the "now" factor, in most cases you are better off getting that stuff at their stores. The only thing I can't find on the island though is PCIe x1 to x16 cables or adapters. I am guessing there might be a specialty shop on this island somewhere that might have them, but I can't find anything. If anyone knows where I can find these things here, please let me know!



Here is the link to the Goodwill's website...



Monday, March 3, 2014

Earthquake!

Earthquake! That was definitely an interesting way to wake up this morning. An earthquake of 6.5 hit some ways from Nago, but still gave Kadena a good shaking for a bit. That was the first decent size earthquake we had since we have been on the island, and hopefully the last. Well, I doubt it will be the last, but it is also nice to hope…Actually, a good sized aftershock just hit while I was writing this at 1127! I guess we are not done yet…

Okinawa Earthquake

Okinawa Earthquake

Okinawa Earthquake

Okinawa Earthquake

Okinawa Earthquake Faultlines

Here is a good link to earthquake information in Japan and it is updated almost as fast as the shaking starts!