Though Japan’s kick-ass keitai aren’t really suitable for export, there’s plenty of other stuff that is. Here are some highlights from my Tokyo stopover:

It’s not only white phones that I like… Here’s a collection of man-purses from Wise-Walker on display at the fashionable Tokyu Hands — specifically the Shibuya location near my hotel.

These neoprene netbook/laptop sleeves were also pretty cool. I might have picked one up but truth is my Eee PC fits in my Porter bag just fine.

I was also quite thrilled to find an ample supply of phone ninjas in Asakusa, exactly where I had purchased them some three years ago. No white ones, though.

And not being the selfish type I had to make my way back to this crazy cat store in Odaiba so I could bring back something for my boy. They had an interesting selection of humiliating strap-on hats and such but I settled for a more practical gift — some salmon jerky, which he polished off in less than 24 hours…

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

I never thought it would happen to me, but I’ve fallen victim to an internet scam!

When I heard news that Al Howell was in hospital with appendicitis, I decided to send him some flowers through the internet. Unfortunately I chose UrbanFlorist.com, and while I was charged the second I completed my order, the goods were never delivered and nobody’s returned my calls requesting a refund.

I was going to harass them again today with another phone call, but decided instead to poke around the internet and see if anyone else had dealings with them. Lo and behold, I found this post from blogger Greg Froese with his horror story, along with similar bad experiences by others and a link to even more bad press at Epinions.

So that’s that. Lesson learned. Sixty bucks down the toilet, right?

Wrong.

I immediately called my credit card company inquiring about a stop-payment. They couldn’t do that, but they offered something even better—to dispute the charge with the scammers themselves. It’s a lengthy process that can take up to 45 days, but if VISA is satisfied that the scumbags at Urban Florist didn’t deliver what I paid for, then I got all of my money back directly from them, without so much as a service charge!

So from now on when someone tells me that shopping online isn’t safe, I’m going to tell them they should get a better credit card…

Hey, don’t let a small technicality like the December 25th statutory holiday stand between you and your favourite Boxing Day sales—thanks to RedFlagDeals.com you can see Boxing Week flyers from all the big chain stores right on your ‘puter, right now!

Oh, and a Merry Christmas to all of you from all of me at AC.ca…

Me and the missus whooped it up Friday night at Highway 400 and Rutherford Road. What can I say? We’re party animals!