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Mobile Ojisan

The future is now in the land of the rising sun

Jul 31, 2006 01:18

Robot(?) with a sense of taste

Posted by mobileojisan

So-called Sushi Robot. If this piece of junk metal were a robot, my PSP would be a demi-god!

What is machine? What is robot then? It seems Japanese folk taxonomy on this subject is quite peculiar, if not outright bizarre. Folk taxonomy is a kind of conviction that a whale is a fish whatever science textbook or haughty eggheads may say differently. It's a totally distinct system of reasoning than science's.

So, almost everybody here has been indoctrinated to call any clever machine a robot. Poor Carel Chapek, the creator of the terminology, would turn over wildly in his grave if he saw this crazy state of Japan.

Take sushi "robot". This is nothing but a glorified machine that spits out hundreds of rice cakes for nigiri-zushi. No brain, no conscience, no nothing at all, simply a piece of scrap metal. But, this junk is sold as a robot, and Japanese mind classifies it as a full-fledged robot. A pure madness, isn' it?
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Jul 28, 2006 01:12

Volta's children skywards again

Posted by mobileojisan

This week, again. About Volta's children.

No, not about that big one with its 31m wingspan. This time I'll pick up a mosquito-class airframe of a mere 3.5g. Yes, you heard it right. 3.5 grams altogether. You can't find a lighter cockroach than this electric plane for sure.

Japanese toy giant, TakaraTomy of Tokyo, has been quietly distributing Aerosoarer indoor plane, an infrared-controlled electricity-powered marvel. Actually, TakaraTomy has had a long history of infrared-controlled toys, the most famous being its cute stubby micro-cars, Infrared Choro-Qs.

Flight of mosquito. Aerosoarer is buzzing around in an office space. Luckily boss is out somewhere.

Jul 23, 2006 22:15

Oxyrides ride high in the sky

Posted by mobileojisan

Presently, alkaline dry cell batteries are everyday bread-and-butter for all kinds of portable gears, even in the remotest kampongs and nomad yurts. It's almost impossible to find those classic leaky manganese batteries, the workhorse of past generations, anymore. But the reign of alkaline may come to an end earlier than we think.

Take Matsushita/Panasonic, my namesake again. Its new type of dry cell, Oxyride battery, has the chance to be the next dominant power. Already, Oxyrides ride high in the digital camera field.

Then, Matsushita engineers concocted a strange idea while promoting these Oxyride batteries. "How about manned flight, powered by our Oxyrides?"

Flight of Icarus. Or flight of Volta, rather. Don't ask about the air speed. Some of the escort students could run faster.

Jul 20, 2006 15:57

Akiba joins arms race--the ultimate weapon of virus war

Posted by mobileojisan

Akihabara, these days, looks pretty peaceful, innocent and docile, with hundreds of kinky French maid cafes and youngish otakus prowling around in droves. But, when it started forming its proto-shape gradually from nebulous dust particles of post-war Japan, it had been mingled with quite a liberal dose of gunpowder, too.

Early Akiba. Its scores of pavement hawkers and stall owners used to deal exclusively with components salvaged from demobbed military communications equipment. From both collapsed Japanese and victorious US military junkyards. Some gears still wore ominous dark-brown bloodstains on them.

Having compared flimsy paper-thin chassis of Japanese Naval Airforce air-to-base sets and sturdy indestructible steel ones of the US Forces, young Mobile Ojisan finally and heartily realized why Japan had lost the war against America.

Peaceful Akihabara turned into arms bazar. You can procure burgain missiles in broad daylight. Only 3,980 yen. Be quick, stock is rather limited.

Jul 17, 2006 01:47

Hi-yo, ladies, riding keeps you young and fit!

Posted by mobileojisan

Horseriding is good fun and outright pleasant, everybody agrees. Unless, well, if you were a Mongol soldier and had to ride non-stop from Karakoram down to Poland and Hungary across the infinite Eurasian steppe, it wouldn't be that fun. Sure, don't overdo it anyway.

Kids love it, of course. It's a pale substitute, those coin rides at parks and playgrounds are patronized by millions of eager kids who keep on jolting them gently. Also, carousels never die.

There used to be another kind of mechanical riding machines, American rodeo electric bulls. This wild contraption was for pure and simple entertainment. Suddenly, it popped out at many waterholes and shady joints. Then, just as suddenly, it vanished, leaving behind quite a few young men (and girls, too) with broken limbs and backbones.