Category Archives: Media

My Interview with Small Gift Big Story podcast.

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Two weeks ago I was interviewed  by  Saumeh and Marty of the  Small Gift Big  Story  podcast.  The pos cast is about  us fans of Sanrio and Hello Kitty and our love  and  stories. I am very honored  to be interview them and gave them  free run of my blogs for  pictures of the cons I took Hello Kitty and Chococat .  The podcast is now  up on soundcoud and  Itunes.

The  sound suffers because I use my phone and I talk to fast. I discuss  my motivation and love of Hello Kitty influenced  by both  my time in Japan and  my involvement   in the Furry Fandom. I hope I represented the fandom well.

Saumeh and Marty are neat people and Hello Kitty fans  the been interviewed by a major paper covering Hello Kitty’s 40th anniversary http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/kitty-festival-marks-character-40th-birthday-article-1.1989289

It is a honor  to be interviewed by both of you.

Photo Link

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.963408467080456.1073741836.754444857976819&type=3

Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty

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I went to  the  EMP mainly for Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty exhibit. I had been to the  EMP  museum in the past  when it was just Music and Science Fiction Hall of Fame.  The really  renovated  the museum  taking parts of  the Science  Fiction and music Exhibits and tuned  in to  a pop culture exhibit space including Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction,  Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic, Can’t Look Away: The Lure Of Horror Film and the Sea Hawks We Are 12 exhibit.  The sky Church screen stopped me in my tracks . The studio and interactive  music studio is still on the third floor.  What was supposed to be just a few hours for the Hello Kitty Exhibit turned into a all day event. Well worth the time.

My only gripe is the location of the Science Fiction Hall of fame, it should have a more dignified space.

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SanrioTown.com Hacks my Take

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The news was a buzz over the alleged breach of Sanrio Town  fan site.

“More than three million accounts of Hello Kitty fans were left vulnerable to theft by hackers, but there is no evidence any data has been stolen, the Hong Kong-based company hosting the data said on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Sanrio Digital, part-owned by Sanrio Co Ltd, the Japanese owner of the Hello Kitty brand, said it had fixed the hole after being notified by security researcher Chris Vickery that personal information of its users was accessible. “

A little perspective is needed; it is not as bad the media is making it.

I have a account on Sanrio town. Most any information a hacker  got from  me is general  location, name and birth date. While  is bad is not that all damming except trying  to access my characters on Hello Kitty MMORPG.  Speaking of  Hello Kitty MMORPG most of us have multiple accounts because the game was deployed regionally, for example we need to have a SEA account (i.e. hellokitty.sg) to play  the international servers.  The MMORPG has fallen  aside in popularity, many of the leaked accounts probably  are inactive  users.

While bad  I do not see it a catastrophic  problem unlike the  Target breach.  There is evidence of accounts that been compromised, mostly  spam  post on the forum but there no evidence   that finical data  fell into the hands of hackers or identity theft. Still there is  a big problem of old websites and forums  that have not been updated in years .

 

Sanrio official response

Hello Kitty News Dump

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It has been a while so sit back and here two stories
It is the other side of the pond turn for a hello Kitty show. After the disappointing cancelation of Hello Kitty’s Supercute Festival , Europe gives it a go with a live show, Hello Kitty Live Fashion and Friends , the story goes as “The Present, London. A group of great friends. The passion for creativity, fashion and music. An opportunity that can change Hello Kitty’s life. A story of friendship. A challenge you can share.” The show was panned by the British theater critics, but then what in heck are they expecting, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats? Give me a break.
The show is current ruing in France and will return to Great Brittan,I  hope the show will make it to Asia we can hope for a North American run.
The second story is a follow up on the Hello Kitty Men project; Hello Kitty Men; Unveiling 12 Items in Collaboration with 6 Tokyo Men’s Brands. The article is interesting that Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi reiterates Sanrio desire to enter the men’s market .
“Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi told the reception party, “In the 40 years since Hello Kitty was born, the character has been thought of as something that is just for girls, but now we hear from men in their 20s and 30s who don’t view it as particularly ‘girly.’ We’ve also received requests from high school boys who’ve been brought up by mothers who are Hello Kitty fans and have gotten used to the character as part of their lives, asking us to make items to suit their style.
Looking toward the next generation, I think we must have fans among men as well as women. Since I’m a woman, it’s difficult for me to always know what men want, so I’m delighted that we’ve been able to collaborate with all these wonderful people. It was quite a challenge to design Hello Kitty with men in mind, and I’m really satisfied with how well all of these collaboration items manage to express the various brand colors. Listening to the reactions from the men who attended this event, it’s fascinating to hear so much interest in these unique items.”
You can see the collaboration here except for the 10000 Y t-shirt I am not impressed, I want something more overtly hello kitty. If Sanrio want to really reach the male market in the US, get Lauren Faust to reboot Hello Kitty and Friends, we will own the Brony fandom.