IMAGINE THIS: TIME LORD CARL SAGAN.

spaceandstuffidk:

kaiyves:

avarielle:

karlika:

Just sayin’.

His Ship of the Imagination can travel through time and space. That is all I’m saying.

I have been saying this for years and I’m glad someone else has realized it, too.

DOES THIS MEAN HE REGENERATED INTO BRIAN COX!?

Ohhhh, you mean this Brian Cox:



Not this one:



It is kinda easy to get those two dudes mixed up. ;)

Though, I do think the latter Cox would make an awesome time lord, too.

Awesome Evangelion T-Shirts In-Stock Soon at Nihonju.com!

Above is Asuka yelling at everyone who looks at this shirt: “ANTA BAKAA!” aka “YOU IDIOT!”

Below is an incredibly subtle (and in my opinion, much cooler) shirt that is the image we see when Gendo is talking to his bosses (whom ever they are) in that creepy chatroom.



Both shirts will be available later this month from Nihonju.com for $38 plus shipping. Click on the pics to pre-order yours.

Samurai Double Feature at the Japan Society in NYC TONIGHT!

Guess where I’m going tonight… Samurai double-feature! YAY Japan Society!! Going to stop off at Dainobu for ??????? (a couple of onigiri) on the way. In NYC? Dig Japanese cinema? See what else they’re screening this month: http://www.japansociety.org/japancuts

Japan finds lots and lots of Rare Earth Minerals Under the Ocean Floor

thejpete:

Japan Finds Vast Reserves of Rare Earth Minerals That Could Be Used to Make Solar Panels and Other Electronics

by Brit Liggett, 07/05/11

Japan just announced that they’ve discovered a deposit of rare earth minerals off their coast in the Pacific Ocean that, if commercially viable, could change the worldwide market for the expensive materials. The deposit could yield as much as 80 to 100 billion tonnes of rare earth minerals and though Japan isn’t being specific about which materials they’ve found there, it is likely to contain gold and copper. China currently holds an estimated 97% of the world’s stores of rare earth minerals, which are used in many high tech gadgets like solar panels, cell phones, television sets and vehicles. Will Japan’s find change all of that?

Just so long as they don’t find any sakuradite. ^_^

Read the rest at inhabitat.com.

Am I right? Anime geeks, back me up on this! ^_^

Japan finds lots and lots of Rare Earth Minerals Under the Ocean Floor

Japan Finds Vast Reserves of Rare Earth Minerals That Could Be Used to Make Solar Panels and Other Electronics

by Brit Liggett, 07/05/11

Japan just announced that they’ve discovered a deposit of rare earth minerals off their coast in the Pacific Ocean that, if commercially viable, could change the worldwide market for the expensive materials. The deposit could yield as much as 80 to 100 billion tonnes of rare earth minerals and though Japan isn’t being specific about which materials they’ve found there, it is likely to contain gold and copper. China currently holds an estimated 97% of the world’s stores of rare earth minerals, which are used in many high tech gadgets like solar panels, cell phones, television sets and vehicles. Will Japan’s find change all of that?

Just so long as they don’t find any sakuradite. ^_^

Read the rest at inhabitat.com.

Tumblr is not Tumblr anymore. It's now a fish. WHA?

nathansgotsole:

• Tumblr is now a popularity contest, not a blog site.


• People send you anon-hate messages instead of understanding your situation.


• Followers make friends with you not because they really want to but for the sake of that effin’ follow back.


• Some of my friends have Tumblr so I can’t just blog the way I really do.


• All the blogs are the same. All the same pictures of pretty girls smoking and drinking and posing with all their hipster friends.

I’ve been saying this over the time…

I am a big fan of Tumblr. I am not a big fan of the above sentiment that “Tumblr is not Tumblr anymore”.  Really? What is it? A fish? Is it SUPER Tumblr?

Tumblr is a tool for blogging. How the users of Tumblr choose to use it is up to each of us.  Use it as you see fit and you should be OK so long as you understand other folks are going to use it the way they see fit.  Don’t reblog so much, don’t just post pictures and only follow people you find interesting (whether they follow you or not) and you’ll knock out all of those gripes listed above.

Thumb-drive-sized Computer fits in your pocket.

mind-bomb:

Game developer David Braben creates a USB stick PC for $25








(everything set up and running)

Braben has developed a tiny USB stick PC that has a HDMI port in one end and a USB port on the other. You plug it into a HDMI socket and then connect a keyboard via the USB port giving you a fully functioning machine running a version of Linux. The cost? $25.

this is really neat, and the idea/inspiration behind it is super rad, but as a friend of mine has pointed out, once you include the price of a mouse, keyboard, monitor, and maybe even network peripherals (since there doesn’t appear to be a wired connection, and wireless is doubtful), you’re basically at the price of an OLPC. =

This is a great idea, but I disagree with the premise that, once you add in peripherals and a monitor, this is basically the same price as an OLPC.  I have an OLPC XO-1 and while I think it’s a great little device, it’s not durable enough nor is it as versatile as this thumb-drive-sized PC. Not that the XO was supposed to be versatile. It was really just supposed to be a simple, low-power, low-powered computer that could help Third-World kids learn.

The cool thing with this thumb-drive computer is its versatility.  You can plug it into anything with an HDMI port—a monitor or a TV.  Then you can plug in a $10 keyboard and mouse or whatever you have laying around.  You could stick this thing in your pocket, go to someplace with very limited resources and use whatever was there to get things done.  Or you could use one of those floppy keyboards and a mini-mouse.

Again, the point is: versatility.

Comparing it to the XO also suggests the built-in mismanagement that slowed the XO’s adoption around the world.

Saihatsu Boshi and Learning from Your Mistakes

Jeff-san and I are taking a couple of weeks off from recording the NBG J-cast (go listen to past episodes!) but in the meantime, Jeff emailed me a link to a very interesting article at JapanIntercultural.com which describes how much the Japanese value learning from one’s mistakes.  Here’s a cutting from the article:

 

The Japanese are well-known to be perfectionists in various aspects of their work. Non-Japanese who work with them, either as employees or suppliers, need to be familiar with one of the key techniques they use for pursuing perfection, “saihatsu boshi.”   

Translated literally, this means “prevention of reoccurrence.”  But the simplicity of this phrase belies the deep significance it has for many Japanese.  Of course, people everywhere can agree that making sure problems don’t happen again is a good thing.  However, the Japanese have developed a structured process for doing this.  And they often express frustration when working with people from other cultures who do not take this approach and thus run the risk of the same problems cropping up again.  In Japan, saihatsu boshi is simply accepted standard behavior, and anything else would suggest unprofessionalism or lack of commitment.  Thus, in order to optimize their relationships with Japanese, it’s useful for non-Japanese to adopt this technique.

 

 

The article goes on to describe the process in detail. I highly recommend you read the entire piece if you ever plan to go to Japan or have dealings with anyone from Japan as they’ll be very impressed with your ability to understand Saihatsu Boshi.

Jeff also points out that there are more interesting-looking articles on cross-cultural relations with Japan here.

 

NBG J-cast episode 5: #Quakebook, Concert for JAPAN, Phrase of the Week and more!

This week thepete and Jeff-san talk about #Quakebook, how Japan keeps calling thepete, the “Concert for JAPAN” event at the Japan Society, and the phrase of the week! Also, find out what last week’s phrase of the week was!  Check out more episodes of the NBG J-cast here: http://thepete.com/a/NBG

The bands talked about in this week’s NBG J-cast are listed below:

Taikoza

Salme

Echostream

Me & Mars

The Suzan

Hard Nips

For pictures of the “Concert for JAPAN” event at the Japan Society, check them out here. or view them as a photoset on Flickr, also, there’s a slideshow, too.

NBG J-cast episode 5 is hosted at archive.org.

Elisabeth Sladen/Sarah Jane Smith RIP

Ugh—this stung my fanboy heart something fierce.  Elisabeth Sladen, who played The Doctor’s companion off and on for 40 years, has passed away from cancer.  Very sad.



source



source



source

Apparently, she worked up until quite recently, so I think we have more of Sarah Jane Smith to see, which is both wonderful and sad.  64 is too young for anyone, but especially so for someone who was still bringing good things into the world.

Read more about her passing on BBC News.

Thank you so much for your work, Elisabeth!

You will definitely be missed!!

Saw this small video billboard in Times Square last night: "Don't give up Japan!"

Not sure why they went with that phrase—is Japan considering giving up? Doubt it.  Is it supposed to be a translation of the Japanese phrase below? If so, I’m confused since 1) it’s spelled in katakana which is the character set one uses for non-native words and 2) I always understood ¨????¨ meant “do your best”.

Very puzzling, but still nice to see the sentiment in Times Square. Too bad the billboard was maybe 7 or 8 feet tall and not one of the jumbotrons.  The message also swapped out for some sports promo a half-second after I took this picture. I waited a few minutes and it didn’t come back.

Still, better than nothing, right?

NBG J-cast episode 4: onsen, Ginza and watching movies in Japan

This week, we talk about onsen (hot springs), Ginza (shopping), going to the movies in Japan and, the Japanese phrase of the week—can you translate it? If so, @ reply @thepete or @escaperabbit on Twitter or leave a comment on this post!

Episode 4 of the NBG J-cast is hosted on archive.org!

Subscribe to the NBG feed!

Thanks for listening!

Slideshow of our time at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" on April 9, 2011

View the original posts here on j.thepete.com for these images.

View them as a photoset on Flickr.

My favorite photo from @JapanSociety’s “Concert for JAPAN” (final post of many!)

It’s me with my first ever (and only) Japanese instructor, Akai Sensei! Seeing her again really brought back old times.  I felt like it was March 2011 all over again! ;P Isn’t Akai Sensei ???? (Just agree—she totally is!) She also happens to be a wonderful teacher.  She makes learning Japanese a lot of fun. I can’t wait to take a class with her again!

Hard Nips performs at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pic set 12 of many) UPDATED WITH VIDEO

The Hard Nips are a crazy fun metal band out of Brooklyn made up of women from Japan (get it? “Hard NIPS”?)  Anyway, they’re a blast to listen to and did a great set at the CfJ. Check out their website: http://hardnipsbrooklyn.com



VIDEO:

The Suzan performs at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pic set 11 of many)

This was probably my favorite band of the night—The Suzan is a high energy pop band that reminds me of Pizzicato Five crossed with Bananarama (kind of).  They’re just a really fun, interesting band that has a style that is really hard to not like.  Check out their website: http://thesuzan.com My favorite songs of theirs are “Home” and “Come Come”.

Me & Mars performs at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pic set 10 of many)

Me to Mars (Me and Mars—“to”=”and” in Japanese) is a punk/ambient/experimental band that played a kick-ass set at the CfJ.  Their lead guitar can really rock and their bass is pretty awesome, too.  Check out their music at http://myspace.com/metomars (aparently their still isn’t a better site for bands than MySpace—what’s up with that?)

Echostream performs at @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pic set 9 of many)

Echostream is a real great, angsty rock band and they did an awesome set during the CfJ.  I highly recommend you check out their clips on YouTube ( http://youtube.com/echostream ) or their website: http://echostreammusic.com (they have more content on their YouTube, however).

Salme performing at the @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" (pt8 of many)

Salme is “a unique revue-style modern performance, based on Geisha entertainment infused with the feeliny of urban Tokyo.”  Put simply, Salme is a group of female dancers and singers that mix modern J-pop sensibilities with geisha traditions.  Check out their webpage at http://salme.info  I was too busy enjoying their performance to get a decent picture but I wanted to post about them.  They had a lot of energy and their set was fascinating and very entertaining. If you get a chance to see them, go for it.

The @JapanSociety's "Concert for JAPAN" Taikoza concert pics (pt 7 of many)

Here are two shots from the once concert we were in the theater to actually see (the other concerts were simulcast around the JS and, I think, streamed on Ustream, too).  In the first pic in this set, before the concert began, you can see Taikoza’s drums on stage.  In the second pic Taikoza is performing. Check out their website: http://taikoza.com