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trains
World's First High-Def Train Simulator Makes Train Operating Uber-Realistic
Train operators-in-training will no longer have to deal with plain, unrealistic, standard-definition simulations thanks to a new system that uses full HD video. Jointly developed by Fujitsu and video game maker Ongakukan, the world's most advanced train simulator uses variable-speed playback technology and HD video that was shot on actual train lines. More »
thanko
On-the-Go Plastic Cover for Laptop a Ziploc by Any Other Name
Dust-proof and showerproof—although, despite the shower head-keyboard bunk-up in the picture, apparently not waterproof—this plastic laptop cover from Thanko is a glorified freezer bag. Available in A4 and B5 sizes, it is the plastic sofa cover of portable device accessories. Cost is around $20, and I suggest using Cling-film instead. [Thanko via Akihabara News]
japan
Japan's Most Advanced Massage Chair
This aired a few nights ago on Kinchan no Kasoh Taisho in Japan, a show apparently dedicated to the advancement of science, technology and the arts. We'd love to have one of these massage chairs in our own homes, because it looks super comfortable and not at all awkward. The only request we have? We want a female version. That'd be slightly softer and have more back support. [Japan Probe]
iphone 2.0
iPhone 2.0 Firmware Will Have Handwriting Recognition, Go to Japan and China?
A blog on the Wretch.cc network (kinda like a Chinese blogspot) has screens from the Chinese version of iPhone's 2.0 firmware, detailing the new handwriting recognition. If it's real, which it seems to be, the new firmware will let people draw in characters with their fingers, then pick the closest approximation among choices that pop up.
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weird combo of the day
Japan Gets Batman Bust With Batman Begins Blu-Ray Set
On July 23, Japan will get their chance to own Batman Begins on Blu-ray—about two weeks after it's released in the US. But while our gift set edition comes with story boards, script pages and a $7.50 movie credit towars Dark Knight, our friends in the Land of the Rising Sun get a 25-cm-high bust. Where's MY bust, Warner Entertainment? Why can't I get a miniature rendition of Christian Bale's hooded face to stare at me stoically from my mantle? I may not be Japanese, but I like creepy stuff too! The regular Blu-Ray will be around $47, the gift set edition is about $180.[AV Watch]
japan
Intravenous Vitamin Mix Bar Alleviate Stress, Aging
If you've ever watched that episode of House where the good doctor nurses his hangover by hooking himself up to an IV drip and said to yourself "I wish I could do that," you're in luck. Now in Japan, even people who aren't wisecracking M.D.s can get an IV drip pick-me-up at Tenteki10. Located in swanky Ebisu, Tokyo, the IV drip cafe features walk-in service with bags of fluids starting at $20 a pop. Their menu is quite varied. More »
japan
Japanese Porn Master Whacks It to 10,000 Dirty Pics a Day (While at Work)
Japanese bureaucrats apparently have the most amazing multi-tasking powers on earth. Topping the dude who basically wrote the Gundam Wikipedia while at work, a 57-year-old civil servant in Kinokawa was busted for beating it to 780,000 porn pages in nine months. That's 10,000 a day, 20 a minute at his most furious fapping. All on the job (maybe he could stop time, like Hiro). He was finally busted when he had tech support look at his computer after he picked up a virus—his coworkers thought nothing of the weird noises emanating from his cubicle. For nine months. The best part? The dude was only demoted. Probably for not being efficient enough. [The Inquirer]
japan
Japanese Somela Fast Dehydrator Sucks Water From Clothes With Your Help
Many people in Japan and other parts of Asia forego dryers in favor of just hanging out their clothes on a line. Whether it's for space conservation (quite likely) or out of habit, people there don't seem to be big on dryers. This Somela Fast Dehydrator, on the other hand, seems to be a quick and fairly easy way of drying your clothes in a trash can-sized appliance. It takes 3-5 minutes per article, but you need to hold onto the clothes while the dehydrator does its thing, so it's more suited for that one piece of clothing you need to wear "RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IT'S MY LUCKY SHIRT OMG WHY DID YOU WASH IT YOU KNEW I HAD TO WEAR IT TODAY" to work than doing your whole load. [Rakuten via DVICE]
hobbies
There's not a ton of info out there on these amazing, handmade marble mazes other than what's to be found in these Japanese YouTube videos, but we think they're cool enough to share with you anyways. Apparently, there's a subculture in Japan that makes really elaborate marble mazes that look like models from a train set or something. Check out the first one above, then hit the jump for two more. More »
Elaborate, Handmade Japanese Marble Mazes are Awesome
There's not a ton of info out there on these amazing, handmade marble mazes other than what's to be found in these Japanese YouTube videos, but we think they're cool enough to share with you anyways. Apparently, there's a subculture in Japan that makes really elaborate marble mazes that look like models from a train set or something. Check out the first one above, then hit the jump for two more. More »
woof
Robo-Dog Can Pull Rickshaws, Hump Your Leg
This plastic and metal husky with baby blue sneakers is one of the many weird and wonderful robotic entries at Chiba's Techno-Frontier 2008 symposium. Doesn't work as complex and chilling as the mindblowing BigDog, but at least the robo-husky won't try to poop everywhere. [Robot Watch]
gadgets
Steam Powered Electronic Newspaper Makes Us Ask If This is Really Necessary
Does the world really need another steam powered anything? And if it does, would an electronic newspaper be the most appropriate thing to be steam powered? We don't have any answers for these questions. All we know is that this Japanese setup can turn a page in all of 15 seconds, making it a whole two seconds faster than our "pull down our pants and turn it with our ass" approach. [Digital World Tokyo via Uber Gizmo]
japan
Japanese Nose Mask Pit Saves You From Allergies, Talking Normally
Are your allergies so severe that a Claritin has no effect? The Japanese have a solution, and it involves shoving round pieces of plastic up your nose to block out allergens. It may seem unorthodox, but as the lady at the clinic keeps telling me, prevention is much more effective than cures. We'll stick to pills, thanks. [Impress via DVICE]
scales
Overall Health Balance Scale Measures Everything But Peen Size
Aimed, one guesses, at Japanese health obsessives, the Overall Health Balance Scale measures a person's health in six different ways: weight; BMI; subcutaneous fat ratio; organ fat level; muscle level; and basal metabolic rate. On top of that, it rates your health on a scale of one to five. Sounds to me like a version of amihotornot.com that you stand on. As well as checking your posture and balance, the Overall Health Balance Scale has got a screen-cum-scanner on a pull string, which semi-detaches from the unit. I think this is aimed perhaps at people so fat that the last time they saw their genitals the Berlin Wall was still standing—and sumo wrestlers. It hits the shelves in Japan on May 1, no price as yet. [Kilian-Nakamura]
japan
China isn't the only nation dismantling used electronics to get at the gold, copper and silver inside. This trend, called "urban mining", is even more profitable in the current market where precious metals are trading close to their all-time high. For example, a ton of ore from a gold mine gives about 5 grams of gold, but a ton of cellphones gives 150 grams of gold. Why would Japan be into this trend? Because their country has few natural resources outside of perverted old dudes, but if they stack up all the cellphones owned by their citizens, they could probably make a pile as big as Mt. Fuji. [Yahoo News]
Urban Miners in Japan Find Precious Metals in Discarded Gadgets
China isn't the only nation dismantling used electronics to get at the gold, copper and silver inside. This trend, called "urban mining", is even more profitable in the current market where precious metals are trading close to their all-time high. For example, a ton of ore from a gold mine gives about 5 grams of gold, but a ton of cellphones gives 150 grams of gold. Why would Japan be into this trend? Because their country has few natural resources outside of perverted old dudes, but if they stack up all the cellphones owned by their citizens, they could probably make a pile as big as Mt. Fuji. [Yahoo News]
7:00 PM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Jason Chen
4,098 views,
14 comments
Latest by TheJollyGreenGiant: but let's not talk about the places where asian children have to pick apart at these discard electronics for shitty pay in unsafe conditions... or how tons of american electronics are "Recycled!" over here only to be sent to overseas to more »
robots
Gakutensoku is Asia's oldest modern robot, built in 1928 for the ascension of the Emperor Showa (aka Hirohito). Twice as tall as the emperor at 10 feet, 6 inches, it could tilt its head, blink, smile and puff up its chest and cheeks with a system of inflatable rubber tubes. Long lost in Germany before returning to Osaka, it's been restored and brought back to life with a $200,000 computer-controlled pneumatic servo system. But it definitely still moves like an 80-year-old—very slowly. Check out the video of it in motion below, it's like a robot from "It's a Small World," but even more uncanny and creepier.
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Creepy 80-Year-Old Japanese Robot Brought Back to Life
Gakutensoku is Asia's oldest modern robot, built in 1928 for the ascension of the Emperor Showa (aka Hirohito). Twice as tall as the emperor at 10 feet, 6 inches, it could tilt its head, blink, smile and puff up its chest and cheeks with a system of inflatable rubber tubes. Long lost in Germany before returning to Osaka, it's been restored and brought back to life with a $200,000 computer-controlled pneumatic servo system. But it definitely still moves like an 80-year-old—very slowly. Check out the video of it in motion below, it's like a robot from "It's a Small World," but even more uncanny and creepier.
More »
robots
Those crazy inventors over at Mertec in Japan have recently unveiled their newest creation—a robot elephant designed to clean urinals. The man behind the unique design claims that the elephant theme came to him because he imagined the trunk as "a powerful reversal of the urinal drain." The idea of reversal is even represented in the robot's brand name "DCBA" (ABCD). Mertec claims that DCBA can clean a urinal in 10 seconds and save 8 liters of water in the process. All I know is that if I ever travel to Japan and see one of these things patrolling a bathroom, I'm keeping my junk tucked safely in my pants. [Impress via 3yen]
Cute Elephant Robot Drinks Human Urine
Those crazy inventors over at Mertec in Japan have recently unveiled their newest creation—a robot elephant designed to clean urinals. The man behind the unique design claims that the elephant theme came to him because he imagined the trunk as "a powerful reversal of the urinal drain." The idea of reversal is even represented in the robot's brand name "DCBA" (ABCD). Mertec claims that DCBA can clean a urinal in 10 seconds and save 8 liters of water in the process. All I know is that if I ever travel to Japan and see one of these things patrolling a bathroom, I'm keeping my junk tucked safely in my pants. [Impress via 3yen]
robots
Take eight robots, divide them into two teams, set them loose in a miniature city, and arm them with non lethal lasers—but tell them to kill one another. It's like semi-ethical dog fighting from the future. And we love it. Our Google Translate is a little rusty, but in the team game mode, each robot could be shot 9 times with the prerequisite of deactivating for 5 seconds between each death. There were other interesting factors (like bases) and all sorts of rules to thwart cheaters (no strafing). So, are you ready to see the video?
More »
Blaser Battle Fukuoka Pits Robots With Lasers Against Robots With Lasers
Take eight robots, divide them into two teams, set them loose in a miniature city, and arm them with non lethal lasers—but tell them to kill one another. It's like semi-ethical dog fighting from the future. And we love it. Our Google Translate is a little rusty, but in the team game mode, each robot could be shot 9 times with the prerequisite of deactivating for 5 seconds between each death. There were other interesting factors (like bases) and all sorts of rules to thwart cheaters (no strafing). So, are you ready to see the video?
More »
