Posts Tagged ‘Japan’
Read About Capsule Living and Feel Better About Your Dinky Apartment [Capsules]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on January 3rd, 2010
Twenty years ago, Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 was a place where Tokyo's businessmen could get a quick night's sleep after a long day at the office. Today its an apartment building for those left unemployed by the devastating recession.
As Japan's jobless rate creeps higher—it is currently 5.2%, the highest it has ever been—some Tokyo residents are saving money by moving into hotels. Caspule hotels.
We've looked at capsule hotels before and thought it might be fun to spend a night of deep sleep in a futuristic, high-tech pod. But this report from yesterday's New York Times presents the sobering reality of life in a capsule.
At about $620 a month, rent's not that cheap, though that does afford you a small in-capsule TV and fresh linens, as well as access to communal areas. The capsules have screens instead of doors, and their thin walls provide little privacy. There is, of course, little space for personal possessions, so most residents keep their things stowed in even smaller lockers on the premises.
The hotel's proprietor estimates about a third of the establishment's 300 capsules are rented long term, on a month by month basis. It is heartening, though, to read that the capsule-dwelling individuals interviewed in this article remain optimistic about what the future holds. You can read their stories and find more photographs at the link. [New York Times via Lisa Katayama's Twitter]
Sony Vaio T makes a comeback, and this time it’s a CULV with major battery life
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 31st, 2009
Sony Vaio T makes a comeback, and this time it's a CULV with major battery life originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony Style Japan | Email this | Comments Happy New Year, Japan: Kamikaze Plane Cards From 1937 [Airplane]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 31st, 2009
Japan is just a few hours away from celebrating New Year, the biggest date in the calendar. These New Year cards from 1937 mark the first ever Japanese flight to Europe, which took over 51 hours in the Kamikaze plane.
Back in 1937, the Mitsubishi Ki-15 plane flew from Tokyo to London in 51-hours, 17 minutes and 23 seconds (sure puts the 12-hour flight we endure these days into perspective), with the flight sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper to celebrate the UK’s King George VI’s coronation. The Kamikaze was piloted by Masaaki Iinuma, who died a few years later in the Pacific war, and sadly the Kamikaze didn’t fare much better either. It was placed in a memorial center a few years after the inaugural flight, but the building, along with the plane, was destroyed in WWII.
These New Year’s greeting cards are a beautiful reminder of the journey undertaken 72 years ago. Happy New Year, Japanese readers! [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston via Pink Tentacle]
Cybiko: “Make for Happy Best Time!!!!” [Y2k10]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 30th, 2009
Oh oh Cybiko! Presumably born of an illicit union between a walkie-talkie and a Palm Pilot, this 2000-era gadget was for kids who wanted to send messages to nearby friends. But could it also make men erect and cows flatulent?
The Cybiko, which was introduced in 2000, was an antenna'd handheld gadget could send messages via radio waves to other device-users within a 300-meter radius. Ha ha ha: Why would anyone want to send a non-verbal message to someone so darn close to them? That would be, like, IM-ing someone who sat near me in an office. Ridiculous. I almost never do that. Twice a day, tops.
In the UK and the US, the Cybiko was marketed as a kind of Baby's First PDA: In addition to using it to chat with nearby friends, it could be used to play games or as a calculator and to have what promised to be an uncontrollable amount of fun. It seems that in Asia, however, the market was slightly older. Japanese users were promised a little bit more than just fun: Namely, the ability to make cows fart out words, pop hands out of men's heart boxers, and, overall, have yourself a "happy best time."
Anna Jane Grossman has joined us for a few weeks, documenting life in the early aughts, and how it differs from today. The author of Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By (Abrams Image) and the creator of ObsoleteTheBook.com, she has also written for dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Salon.com, the Associated Press, Elle and the Huffington Post, as well as Gizmodo. She has a complicated relationship with technology, but she does have an eponymous website: AnnaJane.net. Follow her on Twitter at @AnnaJane.
First Cat-to-Human Paw Transplant Deemed a Complete Success [Thanko]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 30th, 2009
TOKYO (AP) - After several decades of gruesome failures, Japanese researchers have successfully transplanted a kitten's paws to a human body. The test subject, a 29 year old model for Thanko, a gadget seller, has a new lease on life.
"For years I lived with a wretched handicap," [name withheld] explained. "My hands were human-like and only a little bit cute, which is a tough thing for a model."
After fifteen years of transplant lists, fundraisers and miracle cures, she'd almost given up. Then researchers from Tokyo University of Science called and said they'd nearly perfected a new technique of removing a non-anesthetized kitten's paws with a rusty hacksaw and gluing them to the patient's wrists.
"The news was a Godsend," she said.
Given the slightest surgical mistake, a small, defenseless kitten would bleed to death quite slowly and painfully on the operating table. The human subject, however, would be completely unharmed, resting peacefully unaware of any blood or shrieking.
"Let's just say it's good that a humane society leases the space next door," said one scientist. "A really, really big humane society just filled to the brim with unloved strays."
As for the young model, she woke from surgery with a slight hand ache requiring nothing more than a prescription for a minor anti-inflammatory. And according to her official press statement, she couldn't be more pleased:
"Now my hands are very cute!" [Thanko via CrunchGear]
Remo humanoid hobby robot now available, wherever adorably creepy gifts are sold
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 29th, 2009
Remo humanoid hobby robot now available, wherever adorably creepy gifts are sold originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkGizmodo | Tsukumo Robot Kingdom | Email this | Comments Transparent Goldfish Developed By Japanese To Reduce Unnecessary Dissections [Science]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 29th, 2009
From the same land that transparent frogs were created in, comes the see-through goldfish. Japanese scientists hope that due to the organs and heart being visible, it'll eliminate the need to dissect them in schools and laboratories.
To be honest, I don't seem to recall slicing and dicing goldfish in biology class—but then, I was probably hiding in sickbay claiming vegetarianism. Perhaps goldfish dissections are more common in Japanese schools than anywhere else?
Anyway, the goldfish skin and scales lack pigment, which means all organs—including the heart and brain—are visible. Wonder when the same scientists will create transparent humans? [Scienceray]
Gaming In the Streets [Japan]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 29th, 2009
Only in Japan would you find an arcade with the theme of playing in China's "backstreets." Called Your Warehouse, the whole complex is basically eight stories of rusted scum...that actually provides amenities like towels to sweaty DDR players. [Kotaku]
Sushi Machine Arranges Rice Real Nice* [Japan]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 28th, 2009
I don't know how to make adorable sushi rolls for bento. If I did, I'd be munching on a super saiyan's face right now.
Bandai feels my pain, however, and has released this nori maki maker. Dishwasher safe, the set comes with all the necessary tools and instructions to recreate your favorite characters from Anpanman. Now while I've never watched the show, I'm pretty sure these rosy-cheeked characters aren't tossing around Kamehamehas. And until they do, I'll pass on the ticket to Japan to pick one of these up in Japan for about $55. [Bandai via technabob]
* I should note, I hate that adverbs, and more specifically the use of "ly" suffixes, are struggling in our lexicon. Then again, I do love me a good rhyme.
Sushi Machine Arranges Rice Real Nice* [Japan]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 28th, 2009
I don't know how to make adorable sushi rolls for bento. If I did, I'd be munching on a super saiyan's face right now.
Bandai feels my pain, however, and has released this nori maki maker. Dishwasher safe, the set comes with all the necessary tools and instructions to recreate your favorite characters from Anpanman. Now while I've never watched the show, I'm pretty sure these rosy-cheeked characters aren't tossing around Kamehamehas. And until they do, I'll pass on the ticket to Japan to pick one of these up in Japan for about $55. [Bandai via technabob]
* I should note, I hate that adverbs, and more specifically the use of "ly" suffixes, are struggling in our lexicon. Then again, I do love me a good rhyme.
