I don’t usually don’t like to post stories that have made the rounds on the blogosphere. But this particular article is just too funny too resist. The story comes to us from the AFP, and can be read here.
TOMY toy company has designed an exploding piggy bank that shakes violently when you don’t add money to it in a timely manner. This “punishment” is supposed to shame you into saving more money. Oh, Japan, I should have seen this one coming. As if people here didn’t have enough shame as it is. The bank is called the ”人生銀行” or “Life Bank”, and is ready to go on sale any day now.
If you are interested in any of their other 人生 products, you should check this out. It might be the most annoying alarm clock ever devised. They call it the “Life Clock” or “人生時計.”
In order to bring you content above and beyond what the AFP is bringing you, I intend to purchase an exploding bank and play around with it. Stay tuned.
人生銀行 - Product page.
Let me give you a little bit of a background here. Back when I as in University, there was a meeting held, where we decided what direction to take our lexicon in. After many hours of hot debate, a consensus was reached on two new suffixes that could be added to almost any verb, thereby transforming them into a noun. “-xor” would be added to anything to make it good, see “l33t haxor”, or “delicious meatxor” for examples. “-mo” would be added to the end of any word, to signify displeasure, and a certain air of mental retardation, see “lame-mo” or “tard-mo”.
Well, it seems that Japan has once again chosen something from the west to latch on to. Enter the Pasmo! Pasmo, from what I can gather with my limited Japanese, is two things. First, it is a wonderful RFID based rail pass system, that can easily be recharged at any train station. However, unlike its brilliantly marketed cousin Suica, Pasmo not only works at JR stations, but also on the Tokyo Metro, Busses, and most notably to me, the Noda Tobu line and Tsukuba Express! It also appears that Pasmo, and Suica can be friends, but more on this later.
Continue reading ‘I am a Pasmo, and Proud of It’
Story from Crisscross Japan
There is some unfortunate news in the world of space tourism this week. It appears that Daisuke “Dice-K” Enomoto’s dream to be Japan’s first space tourist was quashed this week when it was determined that he is medically unfit to travel into space. the specific cause of this sudden cancellation hadn’t been revealed at the time of the announcemnt, but it’s obviously something bad enough to keep him from space travel.
It doesn’t take much to keep someone from launching into space on a controlled explosion. One bad heart beat here, or a eye problem there is enough to ground someone. Some might even say that nasty condition we call common sense keeps most of us from attempting such a risky proposition.
As a fan of Japanese popular culture I am a little saddened by this. Enomoto was a Gundam fan and had planned to Cosplay as Char from Gundman while he was in space. That may sound a little silly to you, but I think it’s a bold step in the right direction of space tourism. After all, if you are going to pay 20 million to travel somewhere, shouldn’t you be allow to wear whatever the hell you want. The agency that puts these trips together is having a special meeting next week to determine who will be Enomoto’s replacement. One thing I can already ascertain is that whoever it will be, they certainly won’t be as interesting as Enomoto was.
Over the weekend I was racking my brain over what I could teach this week. I decided that I should teach my high school kids about the New Horizons probe to Pluto. I thought this would be a great lesson and get them excited about science at the same time. I downloaded the launch video and prepared an activity sheet with all the information I wanted them to pay attention to. I also planned to show where the probe would go. I wanted to start with the Earth, then expand my talk out to Jupiter and then finish with Pluto and beyond.
Obviously, since this was an ELT situation, I didn’t want to hit the kids with any complicated science jargon. So I took some time and edited my talk to make it as simple as I could. I looked it over and decided it was a killer lesson plan. I went into class ready for a knockout. How did it turn out?
Well, the first year students thought it was good enough. They seemed to enjoy learning the English names for the planets and most had no clue this mission even existed. The teacher for this class also enjoyed the talk, and everyone got a kick out of the launch video. This was not the case, however, for my second year students. During the talk(somewhere around Jupiter) , the class starts giggling. I can’t really figure out why, and continue with my diagram. Then at about the half way point, my teacher comes up to me and indicates that I have a dried up piece of rice stuck to my crotch. It seems that crotch rice is far more fun than a science based lesson.
What have I learned from this experience? It seems it is better to act like a buffoon than it is to actually teach about something that is important to you. It would be so easy to just show up with a grape juice stain down my shirt or my fly wide open. I know I am over reacting, but I am having a less than amicable week with my second grade students. It seems there is nothing that interests them. Either that or I am not trying hard enough.
I have not come across any of these whacky inventions in the wild yet, but I’m sure I will at some point. Leave it to the Japanese to impress and shock with their nutty contraptions.
read more | digg story
I don’t usually like to talk about topics that aren’t related to Japan. I also am not fond of whoring software on my blog. I will make an exception in this case as I have come across an indispensable tool that I would recommend to anyone(even my worst enemy) who is traveling in Japan.
Are you a blog hound? Do you continuously check technology sites and news pages? Well, I found a great, and free tool that allows you to concentrate them all in one place; letting you check them all at the same time. For those of you who are familiar with RSS readers, you know exactly what I’m talking about. This site however, takes RSS to new and crazy levels. You see, Bloglines is all web based. So if you happen to be a JET such as myself, you’ll be able to check all the pages that you usually check without having to remember all of them. This can make a quick visit to the Internet cafe a very efficient experience. I can get all my Slashdot, Space, Gizmodo and BBC article all in one place. It even keeps track of what articles you have and haven’t read yet. In one word, it is simply amazing. But don’t take my word for it. check it out here:
http://www.bloglines.com
I was never a fan of RSS. It always required me to haul my laptop around. Well, that is no longer necessary. Now you can take control of those vast sums of useless information that you enjoy reading every day.
Apple has unleashed a new ipod on the world. This “fifth” generation ipod will allow you to play videos in addition to music, pictures and podcasts. This would be all good if it weren’t for the fact that the video seem to be 320X240. In other words, those videos are produced to play only on the ipod and won’t look so hot on a television or even your PC’s screen. Also, it seems that they won’t play any ripped DVD content. To put this into perspective, it will be the same quality as a 70’s episode of “Chips”, as shown on television.
What is the Japanese connection to all of this? Well, if you live in Japan and wish to buy music using the itunes music store, you have a very limited selection. Since Apple hasn’t been able to bring Sony music onboard (Sony doesn’t like the way Apple prices its music), the music calalogue is smaller than a record store that sells only Milli Vanilli CD’s. In other words it sucks.
So now Apple wants to add Video to this bare cupboard? What are we going to end up watching? Enka music videos? Videos of local politicians pleading for your votes? Apple needs to get the ball rolling with the major Japanese players before it decides to release anymore media formats in this country. Only once that is done will I decide if a video ipod will work for me.
Oh, the battery only handles about two hours of video. Not so hot. 8-10 would have been preferable.
So what does the recent launch of the Shenzhou 6 manned space craft in China have to do with my life in Japan? Well for one thing , since we are neighbors to China, it always makes big news here. My Japanese co-workers talk about China’s bold space plans with a hint of Jealousy in their voices. I mention to them that Japan also has a strong space program; but they are quick to point out that they have no manned launch vehicles of their own. Well, I guess if Japan wants it so badly, they could do it themselves. Those jealous co-workers of mine could go out and start their own space agency. Why not, I say.
In other news, I need to decide what I’m going to do after JET next year. Do I want to work in translation, or do I want another English gig? I’d say my Japanese is nearing the point where I could go out there and translate all day(if this is something I actually want to do.) I also need to decide where I want to live. Do I move to another prefecture, or do I remain in Iwate. Questions, questions.
Finally, it looks like Japan has gone ahead with its plans to privatize the post office. There are many things to consider when privatizing a massive institution such as a post office. But with all the issues at hand, the one that has me the most concerned is what will happen to all the excess staff they will downsize? Every small town (including my own) has their own post office. Layoffs are almost guaranteed at this point, and Japan always chooses the employer over any employee grievances. If you think Japanese people have rights in the work places, you’d better think again. Also, I seriously doubt the government will come to the aid of these poor people. I have a bad feeling we are going to see a spike in suicides in the coming months, and that saddens me.
Hitachi is working on a new technology that will allow hard drives to effectively gain 10 times their normal Capacity by 2007. For you non-eggheads out there, that means a 20gig micro hard drives will be around soon. It’s called perpendicular recording. It’s pretty neat. In fact, they have this neat little video that explains it:
Get Perpendicular!
It that not cute, or what? Just so you know, I love cute flash. If you have any cute flash you’d like me to show here(and it’s related to Japan), let me know.
I was hoping to find something that might brighten my tenebrious disposition. Sadly, Japan has a way of taking my frown and sending it even further into the depths. I actually shed tears when I read this article on the Yumel, a talking doll that keeps old people from going senile. The elderly should never have to resort to using a doll in order to find solace in such a ridiculous world. Will those cherry blossoms never come? You can read the article here! Thank you Japan and Yahoo for ruining my day!
