At the Tokyo Toy Show booth of SEGA, the A.M.P. Automated Music Personality, “shows off some of his best dance moves with five different modes and over 62 sound effects, numerous electrifying dance moves and 49 expressive LED light animations…In Track mode, A.M.P. Automated Music Personality will always keep the music facing you so you’ll never miss a beat. A.M.P. will orient himself towards you as you hold the remote control, keeping the music pointed in your direction.” (hasbro.com/tiger/amp-robot)
Look more closely at that ‘Music Personality’….hmmm…
It looks like a small Terminator at Death Metal bot, doesn’t it?
Fun-loving Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in Japanese TV commercial to promote California in Japan (japantoday.com). You watch the previews at VisitCalifornia.jp.
www.VisitCalifornia.jp (machine translation)
I am naive since the assumption of office!
Governor appears for the Japanese commercial! !
It is a thing of 2003 first since the assumption of office that the governor appears in TV commercial for Japan!
Yeah, whatever.
I am sure this time Schwa-chan—what Schwarzenegger is called in Japan—will go for something more tasteful this time than the last time he did TV commercials here. (See all of them at japander.com.)
High fuel prices keep fishing fleets in port — and they’re not squidding June 18, 2008 - Mainichi Daily News….The national cooperative of squid fisheries kept its more than 3,000-member squid trawlers in port Wednesday and plans to stay docked again Thursday because rising costs make it worthless for them to go out and catch the fish….more…
The rest-of-the-story is . . . Global warming is good if you like calamari.
Catches of finned fish have plummeted over the past decade but the squid catch has increasing. Squid populations are no longer limited by their food resources because chronic overfishing has removed their natural competitors in seas. The fish that squid used to complete for food resources with have now been fished out by Japanese fishing practices, leaving squid with much more to eat and they are growing in population. The market is flooded with squid, consumer demand is low, and prices have crashed.
I always have to laugh a bit about the guys in Slashdot and a their love for Star Wars stuff, and today is no exception with the R2D2 server monitor straight from Geek Central, Japan. Japan’s Syun Corporation who combined an R2-D2 DVD Projector and a Nagios-based server monitoring system (funky machine translation).
Yes, this really is 2004 Olympics photo of Mizuki Noguchi sniffing her “rice-tech” shoes after she won the gold medal in the women’s marathon in Athens.
Ready to run in Beijing with rice on her feet - Olympics ESPN - AP - June 13, 2008, TOKYO . . . Japanese marathoner Mizuki Noguchi won the Olympic gold medal four years ago in Athens… now will head to Beijing with an updated version of the rice-tech shoes that helped her win in Athens. Developed by Japanese sportswear maker Asics, the soles of the shoes are made of polyester and ground-up rice husks that absorb water faster. According to the company, they provide up to 10 percent better traction than the competition...more...
According to the The Daily Yomiuri newspaper, “The top contenders for marathon gold in Beijing, Mizuki Noguchi and Paula Radcliffe, have been playing psychological games with each other, Noguchi telling the world she has a pair of ‘magic’ shoes made of rice husks and Radcliffe trialing a hi-tech antipollution mask.”
New kissing robot from Japan CrunchGear — Sega Toys today announced [PDF] they will start selling a new humanoid robot in Japan, E.M.A., on September 26th…Sega says E.M.A. is especially remarkable because of its “glamorous body”and high level of interactivity. The robot is able to hand out business cards, it can sing and dance and walk “like a lady.” …If your head comes close to the robot, its love mode kicks in and your will receive a kiss…more…
Actually Sega has just rebranded the “FemiSapien” fem-bot from WowWee Toys of the U.S. Ema cha’s body has nine power-articulated motion points to provide a feminine, graceful, two-legged robo-girl in high heels (below).
Since Japan has outlawed humans under the age of 15 and the number of puppies adopted into households exceeds the Japanese birthrate, it was only a matter of time before there was a pressing national need for a doggie microbubble generator jacuzzi with “GALF”!
Microbubble Generator Washes Dog w/o Shampoo June 13, 2008 12:37 - Nikkei, Tech-On! — IDEC Corp will release a microbubble generator for a dog bath … the generator “Wan Love Yu,” which is externally attached to the dog bath, by applying the company’s microbubble generation technology “GALF”… to continuously and stably generate microbubbles without using a compressor. It can stably produce bubbles whose diameter is 20um on average and density is 600,000 bubbles/cm3…more...
UPDATE: A much better description of the Wan Love Yu (Dog Love Bath) can be found on PinkTentacle.com.
Japan has been mulling over implanting all their school kids with chips for some time now using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. Now they are going one better to sensor tagging sleepy salarymen to squeeze more work out of them beyond their 14-hour work days with “service” [unpaid] overtime.
Hitachi, Osaka Gas Use Wearable Sensors to Raise White-collar Productivity June 9, 2008 18:55 — NIKKEI Tech-On!
…The analysis and assessment technology combines Hitachi’s “Business Microscope,” a system that visualizes activities in an organization using Hitachi’s proprietary sensor technology incorporating infrared and acceleration sensors, and Osaka Gas’ action monitoring technology… action data is analyzed using knowledge such as human engineering, environmental psychology and gesture and expression analysis….
… the test, in which 30 workers engaged in the information and communication department wore the sensors…. revealed realities concerning how long the employees concentrated on doing the same task and factors that interrupted their concentration...more…
Time to put on my tin-foil hat and mylar underwear too. I can imagine that conspiracy theorists are saying, “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear The Mark Of The Beast” and that major corporations and governments plan to track our every move with these sensors and action monitoring technology, hee, hee.
REVELATIONS 13–16, 17 :
“The Beast also forced everyone,
small and great, rich and poor, free and slave,
to receive a mark on his right hand or
on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell
unless he had the Mark, which is
the name of the Beast or the number of His name.”
UCC introduces famous coffee fit for royalty Mainichi Daily News - June 8, 2008— A legendary coffee patronized by French nobles during the 18th and 19th centuries has been revived by a Japanese coffee company… “Bourbon Pointu,” at Salon de Cafe Boissier in the Daimaru Tokyo department store…The high-quality coffee is served along with chocolates and a glass of champagne and is priced at 5,250 yen per set...more…
Ok, ok, the above Mainichi news report is full of beans…abet coffee beans.
According to the press release of the Salon de Cafe Boissier serves croque-monsieur sandwiches and some kind of puree with their “legendary” Bourbon Pointu coffee along with chocolates and Mailly Brut Rose champagne, the favorite of Victor Hugo.
In the vast DIY/art supply/hardware store, Tokyu Hands, among the meaningless, obscenely-priced novelties like foam dog turd hats and nose/face stretchers, they are offering a “Perfect for Father’s Day” gift: the “HANZUNETTO” Shouting Vase
The following is my rough translation about the shouting jar…
Clamor to whisper! Feel frustrated, confused….
Try “The Scream Bottle.”
4,980 yen [$50 USD approx.]
Feel frustrated, confused…deliver your secrets to “The Scream Bottle.” Shout and scream all you want and it turns your voice into a small whisper! Your screams will be GULPED down by this mysterious bottle. Features:
—Have an evening kick-the-cat and fill this bottle with your stress.
—Don’t let out any secrets to anyone. Sing karaoke in your room whenever you want. How to use:
–The opening of the bottle near the bottom acts like a silencer.
–The special internal structure turns any scream into just a whisper. Shouting pot specifications:
Size (approximately): 12.5 diameter of 18.5 cm high
Weight (approx.): 210 g
Material: ABS resin; country of origin: Japan
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