「なぁーんだ、だったら海外旅行保険なんか必要ないじゃん！」っと思った方はちょっと待ってください。海外療養費では日本の医療処置を基準に支給額が決まります。なので、アメリカで１０万円の治療を受けても、日本でなら１万円の治療ならば大損しちゃいますよ。

「じゃあ、両方加入してたらもったいないじゃん」っと思った方、かなりイイ線いきますね。保険というものは加入していても請求しなければまったくもって無駄です。なので、両方加入していれば、両方に請求してしまってもかまいません。

両方に請求すると、どうなると思いますか？海外保険からは医療費の8割から全額戻ってきます。社会保険からは３割戻ってきます。「ん？」と思った方、そのとおり。最低でも１割儲かっちゃいます。

「えっ？それって違法じゃないの？」まぁまぁ、保険金を払っている以上はお金を積み立てているわけですから、契約上の問題はあっても犯罪ではないですよ。で、契約上、重保険に対しては社会保険庁も海外保険会社も面倒なのか、触れません。

それに、実際には儲かっているわけではありません。「支払った医療費に対して支給額の方が多い」ことになるだけであり、海外保険料といつも支払っている社会保険料を考慮すると、「保険料が還付された」ことになります。もともとは自分のお金なんですから。

「でも病院の領収書は１つしかないよ」あれれ、カラーコピーという文明の利器があります。領収書というのは発行元が真偽を立証する責任があり、あなたはコピーを何枚作ろうが勝手なのです。大体、病院にお金を払ったことは事実なのですから。しかも小さい病院の領収書は白黒レーザープリンターで出力されていますから、普通のコピーでまったく問題ないです。あ、でもキレイにコピーしましょうね。なんだったら、コピーにアメリカンに青ペンでSUBMIT TO INSURANCE（保険請求せよ）とか書いてもなんら問題ないですよ（ORIGINALとかウソは書かない様に）。

はい、これであとはお医者さんの事務係に海外保険の書類と社会保険の書類を記入してもらって、担当医がサインします。内容が重複しますので、事務の人には“Sorry for the paperwork”と詫びを入れておいた方が好感度アップです。

海外旅行へ出掛ける前にこれらの書類は用意しておきましょう。パスポートのコピーと一緒の場所（パスポートとは別の場所）にしまっておくと良いでしょう。

海外保険の書類は各保険会社から取り寄せるかダウンロードしてください。社会保険の書類は各地域の社会保険事務所のサイトからダウンロードできると思います。

保険、せっかく加入しているんだったら請求しなくちゃ。

ちなみに、外国へ出向している駐在員の方々。その国で加入している保険で下りなかった差額分もこの方法で請求可能ですよ。

$this = $foo

This non-feature has been patched in PHP5, thus you no longer can use it. In fact, running the same script on a PHP5 server will end up with a FATAL ERROR.

To fix your script to be compatible with PHP5 (and backwards compatible with 4.2) you can replace that line of code with:

foreach (get_object_vars($foo) as $key => $value)

$this->$key = $value;

OR you could invest some dough in Milwaukee’s M12 power tools. The original maker of the Hackzall has a compact version, small enough to fit through a 6 inch hole and short enough to fit between studs. You won’t want to use this thing one handed all-day-long, but it’s great when occasional single-handed use is called for.

Note: Full kit comes with gigantic case.

You have a PHP session conflict in cases like this:

http://www.example.com/~abel/login.php?a0123456789bc…

http://www.example.com/~cain/login.php?a0123456789bc…

Because of the way sessions are stored as Cookies, if the browser encounters a new session with the same name under the same domain, it may not replace an older session with the new one. Browsers using the WebKit engine (Safari, Chrome) may encounter this problem more often than others (for reasons I cannot pinpoint).

The default PHP session is named PHPSESSID and can be controlled through php.ini.  But this has a global effect, therefore the problem persists. To prevent sessions from getting mangled across sites, you must assign a name to the session through the individual site scripts.

The scripts will need to call the session_name() function before starting a session with session_start(). You will have to do this for every instance of session_start(), so it may be a good idea to use a variable (e.g. MY_SESSION_NAME) and declare it in your main config file for the site. This way you won’t be kicking yourself when the need to change the session name arises in the future. NOTE: If your first page is a login page using PHP (e.g. index.php) you must call the session_name on the first page or PHP will start an null PHP session automatically when HTTP_POST occurs.

You may also want to instruct your members to set a TTL for the Cookie and make available a “Logout” button to kill the session for good measure.

ASCIIキーボードだからと言って英語しか打てない訳ではない。Mac OSはその点すばらしく、どんなキーボードでも多言語入力が可能だ。ローマ字入力ならなおさらカナ表記のないASCIIキーボードの方がスッキリして見える。ただ、日本語入力に関してはいくつかの不具合がある。

JISキーボードを使い慣れた人が最初に戸惑うのは「英数／カナ」切り替えだ。JISキーボードにはスペースバーの左右にこれらのキーが配置されているが、ASCIIキーボードにはそれが無い。そこで重宝するのがKeyRemap4MacBookというソフト。

インストール後、システム環境設定のパネルの一つとして現れるKeyRemap4MacBookを使って、ASCIIキーボードのスペースバーの左右にある「コマンド」キーを「英数／カナ」キーに割り当ててしまう。他のショートカットが使える様に、「コマンド」キーを単独で押した時のみ「英数／カナ」キーに割り当てられる。

左commandキーを英数に割り当て

For Japanese > Change Command_L Key > Command_L to Command_L

右commandキーをカナに割り当て

For Japanese > Change Command_R Key > Command_R to Command_R

これでATOK 2009の「カナキー２度押し」機能も使用可能。

昔のMacBookは右コマンドの隣にEnterキーがあり、漢字変換後に確定キーとして使用していた人も多いはず。

Change Option_R Key > Option_R to Enter

また、近頃のノートパソコンに多いメディアキー（プレイ、早送りなど）のせいでカタカナ入力（F7）や半角入力（F8）が補助キー（Fn）なしでは使えないが画面の照度や音量キーもFnキー無しで使いたい場合。

Change Media Keys > Media Keys to F7..F9

ただ、これだとF10キーによる「半角英数に変換」だけはFnキーを使う必要がのこる（実際にはF9とF8を順番に押せば同じ効果になるが面倒だ。）逆にExposéとDashboardのワンタッチをあきらめた方が文字入力には効率出来だ。システム環境設定のキーボード設定の「F1、F2などのすべてのキーを標準のファンクションキーとして使用」を選び、KeyRemap4MacBookで「Change F1..F16 Key」から日本語入力で必要なF6からF10以外の機能キーを復活させれば良い。

F10についてはATOK2010を使えば「英数２度押し」機能があるので必要なくなるかもしれない。

24 Season 8, aka The Final Season of 24, will be released soon as DVD/Blu-ray box sets. In anticipation for my own purchase. I’ve been roaming through Amazon (not THE Amazon, but Amazon.com).

24: Season Eight [DVD]

24: Season Eight [Blu-ray]

My trusty backpack failed a month before it’s 6th year anniversary.

Mac users may be familiar with a bag manufacturer by the name of Booq. They operate out of California and specialize in making bags for portable devices. When they opened their shop to the world wide web in 2004, their main target was owners of the then new titanium PowerBook G4 (aka TiBook). The wide distribution of Apple’s scratch prone metal clad laptop called for the now ubiquitous “sleeve” we see on most portable devices – Booq made them for the TiBook.So back in 2004, I had a titanium PowerBook G4 and was looking for a suitable sleeve. A manufacturer out of Japan had a great poly-foam draw string bag. In fact, it was so great that I had three and gave them away to my colleagues as they travelled around the world with their notebooks. When I went back to Tokyu Hands, they no longer had it in stock. After calling the manufacturer, I found out that they have discontinued this unpopular size – the size perfect for a 15″ wide screen laptop. I bet they are sorry now that EVERYONE is doing wide screen.

A few days later, while skimming through Macworld online, I noticed an online ad for laptop sleeves (Vyper) by this manufacturer called Booq… I clicked it.

After perusing their site for half an hour, I wasn’t looking for a laptop sleeve anymore. I was pretty sure I needed one of their ballistic nylon bags with the bright orange lining.

And that’s how I became the owner of the Booq Boa XL back on July 29th 2004.

I’m guessing Booq was fairly new to the “rugged usage by hundreds of customers” market back then. The Boa had flashy metallic parts that fell off in less than six months. By Christmas, all the logos fell off. The only way you could tell this was a Booq bag was by asking me.

Still the Boa functioned well as a backpack. What I liked the most was it’s hidden side loading pocket. I’m guessing most right handed people carry their backpacks over their right shoulder when they sling their backpack over a shoulder. The hidden zipper would be right under your arm… I don’t like this analogy, but it’s like having a purse. When I travelled, I had all my sensitive documents (passport, tickets, bio-info) tucked into this hidden pocket.

Back then, backpacks didn’t have built-in laptop sleeves, but Booq started putting them in their bags. The Boa went one step further. The Boa’s laptop compartment was slightly too large for just the computer. There was the PowerSleeve vertical laptop bag that fit into this compartment. With this bag-inside-a-bag feature, you could haul your backpack to your destination, pull out the smaller bag, and leave your clothes and toiletries in your hotel room while you go to a meeting. The smaller bag also doubled as a messenger bag, so you could walk around town with it, instead of looking like a tourist with a backpack.

All these features were great. And I saw Booq update and reinvent their bags over the years. Undoubtedly, picking up on comments from users like me (they did away with some of the easy to break features in the 2006 version of the Boa) and added a few more niceties. The current Boa is completely redesigned.

Unfortunately, the journey had to come to an end. This past week, the zipper broke on the laptop compartment – undoubtedly the most important compartment on a laptop backpack. I could have a shop just replace the zipper, but the Boa was showing its age.

This bag travelled with me around the world to Jakarta, Nuremberg, Rome, Florence, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Beijing, and countless other cities and villages I can’t even remember. It held up well carrying sometimes two laptops, a portable printer, iPod, digital camera, first aid kit, a T-shirt and a pair of pants, pens, gum, and cables for every socket there is in the world.

So now, with loving memory, I will put you to rest. Thank you Boa, rest in peace.

If you’ve tried out Milwaukee’s M12 tools at all, you know how much power and torque they pack in such a slim package.

The Right Angle Drill is no different. With a LED light to aid your sighting and a large paddle trigger, you won’t have to contort yourself into a pretzel, trying to squeeze a drill into a corner stud. Compact right angle drills are a MUST for renovation and retrofits.

The short length of the Stubby bits are a perfect solution for getting into the tightest spots, which probably is why you are using the Right Angle Drill in the first place. The 6 piece set comes with an extender attachment so that you could even use the bits at a conventional length.

WARNING!! ResQMe The Keychain Version of the Original LifeHammer is NOT A TOY.

… especially not on an airplane.

Follow the link to Amazon.com and watch the video commercial for how and when to use this gadget. But I can think of many ways this tool could be used for vandalism, theft, robbery, and terrorism – but then, so can a plastic straw.