For those of you that indulge in a spot of gift giving at this time of year, I sincerely hope that Santa-san brings you a couple of sizeable sacks that will keep you suitably absorbed for some time to come.
Or failing that, a perky pair of puppies perhaps.
Merry Christmas!
Originally from Tokyo Times
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TrackbackThe mighty Louis Vuitton may well have pulled out of building another bag-based and branded behemoth in Ginza, but on a Sunday at least, it’s still hard to see any obvious effects on the area due to the current economic climate, with a phenomenal amount of folk still flocking there from far and wide.
Yet that said, in December the district does have a genuinely festive feel, meaning even shopping hating humbugs like myself can have a good time — or at the very least a tolerable two hours or so.
The features of this famous fat fella for example making one feel right at home.
Plus, as well being the perfect place to buy preposterously priced products, it’s also pretty good for taking pictures of people who are also taking pictures,
attentively at times,
of the terrific trees with all their trimmings.
Or even of the more patient who prefer painting them.
And despite Rudolph not even being a reindeer, let alone sporting a red nose,
it’s pretty obvious, ruinous recession or not, who the Sunday saviour is,
and isn’t.
(click images for a less compressed Christmas)
Originally from Tokyo Times
Comments rss TrackbackAs every man and his dog now has a mobile phone — the latter possibly quite literally the way canines are cared for in this country — telephone boxes in Japan are becoming fast fading features; especially as they don’t conveniently double up as lager-fuelled lavatories as they do in my native Britain.
However, there are a few still left, and possibly, if they were all as daringly designed as this one, people would be more prone to patronise them.
Perhaps.
Originally from Tokyo Times
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As the year draws to a close, it’s time to look back at Pink Tentacle’s most popular stories of 2008. Here are the top ten, in case you missed them the first time:
1. Scientists extract images directly from brain: New brain analysis technology allows scientists to read minds, perhaps paving the way for the development of a dream recorder.
2. Japanese custom scooters: Links to photo galleries of radical custom bikes.
3. Styrofoam dome homes: Cheap, sturdy igloo-shaped modular home kits made of expanded polystyrene foam.
4. IKEA decks out Kobe train: Photos of an IKEA ad campaign that transformed the Kobe Portliner Monorail into a moving showroom.
5. Edo-period monster paintings by Sawaki Suushi: Old-school horror.
6. Origami spaceplanes to launch from space station: Details of JAXA’s plan to throw paper airplanes toward Earth from the International Space Station (see photos). In December, the space agency canceled their plans over safety concerns.
7. Bento lunches decorated as album covers: Magnificent bento art.
8. Monster octopi with scores of extra tentacles: Extraordinary freaks of nature.
9. Decorated trains of Japan: Photos of anime and manga inspired trains.
10. Man charged with dumping silicone girlfriend: Breaking up is hard to do.
Thanks for reading! See you again in 2009.
Comments rss TrackbackDespite already boasting a considerable number of traditional customs, Japan still has no problem at all in importing foreign festivities — especially financially profitable ones — and giving them an imaginative twist to make them more money meaningful.
So, Valentine’s Day now boasts obligatory gifts as well as White Day a month later, and Christmas too has been converted to make it more palatable, although the nation’s fondness for feasting on ‘festive’ fried chicken is frankly unfathomable.
As, it has to be said, is the blending of traditional Japanese bondage (link contains bare bodies) with the bearded and big-bellied bearer of Christmas gifts. An art-form that, while strangely becoming on a suitably attired siren,
somehow isn’t so sensuous on a suited,
and sadomasochistic Santa.
Originally from Tokyo Times
Comments rss TrackbackThe Japanese word for a cook is コック (kokku) which, for the untrained ear, may well lead to the odd, mildly amusing member-based misunderstanding. Although there again, some may well suggest that for the likes of foul-mouthed and famous British chef, Gordon Ramsay, such a faux pas may indeed be fitting.
Still, this kind of kitchen-themed confusion doesn’t necessarily end there, as an apparently comparable cock up concerning the creation of a similarly sounding cup can, at least in the sauciness stakes, offer up some suitably stiff competition.
(click image for phallic, but unfortunately fairly obviously photoshopped, frivolity)
via Neta
Originally from Tokyo Times
Comments rss TrackbackHere is some terrific video of a bioluminescent deep-sea siphonophore — an eerily fantastic creature that appears to be a single, large organism, but which is actually a colony of numerous individual jellyfish-like animals that behave and function together as a single entity. The individual units, called zooids, all share the same genetic material and each perform a specialized role within the colony. The best-known siphonophore is the poisonous Portuguese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis), which lives at the surface of the ocean, unlike the one shown in this video (filmed at a depth of 770 meters). Some siphonophore species can grow up to 40 meters (130 ft) in length.
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Takara Tomy’s Omnibot 17μ i-SOBOT, a miniature humanoid robot recognized by Guinness as the smallest mass-produced robot of its kind, has been named Japan’s 2008 Robot of the Year, it was announced on December 18.
The annual Robot of the Year Award was established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2006 to stimulate the development and commercial application of robots in a variety of industries.
Judges awarded this year’s Grand Prize to i-SOBOT due to its advanced technology, its high entertainment value, and its reasonable price of under 30,000 yen (around $300). Equipped with 17 miniature servo motors and a set of gyro sensors for balance, the 350-gram (12 oz), 16.5-centimeter (6.5 in) programmable humanoid can walk, play air guitar, dance the hula, and perform 200 other moves. The tiny hobby robot is also equipped with a set of gyro sensors for balance, and it can be controlled via remote control or simple voice commands. The robot runs for about an hour on 4 AAA batteries.
In addition to the Grand Prize, this year’s Small to Medium-sized Venture Award was presented to “Book Time,” an automatic page-turning robot developed by Nishizawa Electronic Measuring Instruments.
Designed for use in hospitals by people with limited use of their hands and/or arms, Book Time turns the pages of books with either a simple press of a button, a breath-activated switch, or a large button activated by the user’s foot. The robot is compatible with a wide range of book sizes and is easy to set up and use.
This year’s Special Jury Prize was awarded to a rice-planting robot developed by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO).
This GPS-equipped machine is designed to assist farmers by working autonomously to plant rice within a set of programmed coordinates. It takes the robot about 50 minutes to seed 3,000 square meters (0.75 acre) of land.
[Source: Robot of the Year Award (PDF)]
Comments rss TrackbackHere is a collection of digital illustrations of mechs, droids and borgs discovered via the Pixiv image sharing site. Follow the link below each image to view the artist’s website.
POLIZEI ROBOTER [Hikaru Kanefusa]
COMBAT BALL [Hikaru Kanefusa]
Cyborg [Hikaru Kanefusa]
e9 [MAUVE]
L2C4 [MAUVE]
electric girl [Denki]
Armor Suit [Denki]
UE [VVV]
Hyaku Shiki Kai [Saburo]
Cyber Ninja [元村人]
Major Maintenance [元村人]
Urban War [yutori]
AC-style Original Mecha [yutori]
sekizui [Gia]
Gappoi [Gia]
Parent and child [Gia]
Work Vehicles [Higashi]
Karakuri Yasha Maru [CYBERFACTORY-H]
Karakuri Crow Tengu [CYBERFACTORY-H]
Architects [Dragons Heaven]
Divinity, The Descent [Yap Kun Rong]
Untitled [Gang]
Placing Dandelions on Raw Fish [Gang]
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The GTD (Getting Things Done) method of task management can be overwhelming for some. Of the various task managers that I’ve used, many were just too complex and in the end, added to the work load. With Things, I think it strikes a good balance between features and real world functionality.
Instead of overwhelming the user with controls and options akin to the cockpit of a 757 jet, Things is more stripped down and focuses on streamlining task management.
You can quickly enter and tag tasks via the HUD interface. Projects are also easy to setup. With your tasks entered, moving them among your various projects is a simple process of clicking and dragging.
One weakness is the lack of options when it comes to repeating tasks. But I understand this will be addressed in a future update.
An iPhone version of Things is available at the iTunes App Store. This version can sync to its desktop counterpart through Wi-Fi.
You can download Things here. As of right now, this preview version is free. In about 20 days, we’ll see an official 1.0 release. It will cost $49. If you subscribe up to their newsletter before the release, you can purchase your copy for $39.
If you just want to get your work done but appreciate the guidance a task manager can give you, Things has my full recommendation.
[Pic from Culture Code]
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