FEPY

Several Russian hostess clubs were raided in Tokyo today:

According to reports, 14 women were arrested and 49 were detained by immigration. Several networks have been showing footage of the Russians, many of whom were illegally in Japan on overstayed visas or through fake marriages to Japanese men, being loaded into police vans. It is the first time I’ve seen such coverage of a large scale arrest of illegal foreign workers in Japan.

Here’s another clip:

Origin: from Japan Probe

Posted by Fepy on Jun 20, 2007, 7:41AM

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Danny Choo has reported on a new business that is hitting the popular maid scene: instead of being served food or given a massage by girls in maid costumes, you can now pay money to sleep beside one…

There are two types of courses. One is where the maid comes to your home to watch TV together and *sleep beside* you. This is not a pay for sex service and all you get to do is to chat and have her sleep beside you. The rules clearly indicate no touching.

An overnight stay is priced at 40,000 yen, or about 320 US dollars. If you want to know what these maid girls look like, you will be disappointed. The official site of the new business lists all maid profiles as LODING:

More details, including the full price structure, can be found at Danny Choo’s blog.

Origin: from Japan Probe

Posted by Fepy on Jun 21, 2007, 4:19AM

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The HRP-3 Promet Mk-II, a blue-collar android tough enough to trudge through heavy rains, carry out disaster relief operations and work in environments hazardous to humans, demonstrated its skills at a June 21 press conference at Kawada Industries headquarters in Tochigi prefecture. In addition to flaunting its ability to walk on slippery surfaces, the robot showed off its electric screwdriver wielding talents by taking the opportunity to tighten up some loose screws.

The 1.6 meter (5 ft 3 in) tall, 68 kilogram (150 lb) robot, sometimes lovingly referred to as “Ma-kun,” is the latest fruit of a 5-year joint effort by Kawada Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) to develop a humanoid robot with sufficient skills to enter the workforce. This latest HRP incarnation features tougher hardware to make it more suitable for work in adverse environments, as well as improved balance and the ability to move its body parts in a more complex, coordinated fashion.

As with previous HRP series robots, the HRP-3 Promet Mk-II — which cost 400 million yen ($3.3 million) to develop — was designed by mecha creator Yutaka Izubuchi, who is well-known for his work on anime such as Gundam and Patlabor. Depending on how the droid is programmed, it can either work autonomously or be operated by a human via a wireless remote control system.

Ma-kun’s creators say they hope to one day see it land a dirty, dangerous job.

(UPDATE: For lots of short videos, go to THIS PAGE, scroll down to the second group of photos, and click on the links under each picture — WMV format.

…Or better yet, check out the YouTube remix version set to Senor Coconut’s funky cha-cha-cha version of Kraftwerk’s classic “The Robots.”)

[Sources: Chunichi, AIST press release]

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Origin: from Pink Tentacle

Posted by Fepy on Jun 21, 2007, 11:53AM

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Do you want to be that someone who always got some party tricks to show off? Here’s a top 20 list of magic tricks tutorial videos to get you started.

Link - via Digg

Origin: from Neatorama

Posted by Fepy on Jun 21, 2007, 3:23PM

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Researchers at Purdue University have created a computer simulation of what likely happened (engineering-wise) when an airplane crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower on 9/11/01:

The simulation could be used to better understand which elements in the building’s structural core were affected, how they responded to the initial shock of the aircraft collision, and how the tower later collapsed from the ensuing fire fed by an estimated 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, said Mete Sozen, the Kettelhut Distinguished Professor of Structural Engineering in Purdue’s School of Civil Engineering.

So far, the scientists and engineers had used the simulation to analyze how many columns were destroyed initially in the building’s core:

The researchers are analyzing how many columns were destroyed initially in the building’s core, a spine of 47 heavy steel I-beams extending through the center of the structure, Sozen said.

"Current findings from the simulation have identified the destruction of 11 columns on the 94th floor, 10 columns on the 95th floor and nine columns on the 96th floor," he said. "This is a major insight. When you lose close to 25 percent of your columns at a given level, the building is significantly weakened and vulnerable to collapse."

Link (includes video of the simulation in action) - Thanks Another Jake!

Origin: from Neatorama

Posted by Fepy on Jun 21, 2007, 6:54PM

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If you think naming your kid "Georgebush" (yes, one word - as previously posted on Neatorama) was bad, check this out:

Announcing the arrival of a beautiful new baby boy at St. Francis Health Center . . .Urhines Kendall Icy Eight Special K

Urhines is pronounced "Your Highness," by the way. And Special K seems to refer to Ketamine, a recreational drug.

Link - Thanks Seth Christenfeld!

New Zealand, on the other hand, is fighting this baby naming shenanigans: it blocked a couple’s request to name their baby "4real."

Origin: from Neatorama

Posted by Fepy on Jun 21, 2007, 10:10PM

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Here are some squirrels that definitely deserves the controversial catapult treatment previously posted on Neatorama:

If you think Alan Turcott has bad luck, just think of the squirrels in his neighborhood.

For the second time in eight days, Turcott’s Blue Island home caught fire when squirrels knocked high-voltage wires loose from a utility pole and onto his three-story house, fire officials said.

Link

Origin: from Neatorama

Posted by Fepy on Jun 21, 2007, 10:11PM

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On June 20, NTT Docomo and am/pm Japan announced plans to begin equipping convenience stores with cellphone recycling bins, making it easier for people to recycle their unwanted handsets.

Since 1998, Japan’s wireless providers have been recycling unwanted phones in their own stores for customers who switch models or cancel their contracts. In recent years, however, more and more customers are waiting to recycle their old handsets, as phones have grown more sophisticated and hold greater amounts of important data that users need to access after switching models. Most users eventually decide to dispose of their phones, though, so NTT is hoping they will make use of these recycling bins, which will initially be set up at eight convenience stores in central Tokyo.

The recycling bins, which are designed to prevent people from stealing the cellphones inside, are open to unwanted handsets of all makes and models.

In 2005, NTT harvested 37,993 kg (42 tons) of copper and 145 kg (320 pounds) of gold from old phones.

[Source: MYCOM]

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Origin: from Pink Tentacle

Posted by Fepy on Jun 22, 2007, 1:00AM

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Cockburn in Australia; Hell, Michigan in US; Hookersville, West Virginia in US… click on the image to see all of them.

@ haha.nu.

Origin: from haha.nu

Posted by Fepy on Jun 22, 2007, 5:32AM

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GotOrioN has a neat collection of paper models of various Nintendo characters, like Mario, Bowser (complex!), Yoshi, and more.

Link - via Random Good Stuff

Origin: from Neatorama

Posted by Fepy on Jun 22, 2007, 8:02AM

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