Back in autumn last year we introduced one of Samuel Cockedey’s time-lapse videos.
Now he’s made a new one, floating point, exploring Tokyo sites like Rainbow Bridge, Ikebukuro and Shinagawa in his trademark style.
Remember how we previously blogged about the PhoneBook app which integrated an iPhone into a picture book?
Well, now the same folks have come up with iMixad, which lets iPhones and iPads interact. For example, you can seemingly “flick” images between the screens. As the video shows, this kind of app is ideal for games like poker or Scrabble that you want to play digitally in a group of friends.
As a first example of what their software can do, the makers have got together with Java Tea to offer a free app that turns an iPhone into a “bottle” that you pour into an iPad “glass”. Check out the (slightly cheesy) ad to see what I mean…
When politicians get desperate they turn to otaku for help.
For a while there were rumors floating around that the ruling DNP party was hoping to use virtual character Hatsune Miku in promotional videos for candidates. Well, it seems that the makers of Miku weren’t keen and denied the rights.
However, J-Cast reports that MP Kenzou Fujisue, who is pretty tech-savvy for a statesman, has claimed that he has a “secret plan” for trying to make the July election more accessible to the younger generation.
[Pics via Reuters and Vocaloid Wikia]
Hatsune Miku was originally a software release for the Yamaha Vocaloid 2, a sound system that allows you to synthesize singing by typing in your own lyrics. Since then she has become very popular, spawning manga, robot versions and legions of cosplay copycats. The politicians clearly wanted to use Miku to push their propaganda message.
In the end, Fujisue used cheerful “Minshu-kun”, the DNP’s own red mascot character, for a YouTube promotional video. However, keen listeners will detect that the theme song “We are the ONE” is in fact sung in Miku’s voice! Apparently, though the rights to use the actual character were not granted, it was fine to use her voice as long as you did not identify her by name.
Was walking through Harajuku and found this great branded vending machine in front of the Toni&Guy salon.
The hair products inside are sold in sets for 2000 JPY ($22) if you feel like upgrading from your canned coffee.
NICT have developed a scary system that allows them to track files being exchanged along peer-to-peer networks.
They first locate the supernode and from there get information about smaller node groupings. The system lets you search for files and refine movements of data down to IP address and exact time. It can even trace files that have been altered and re-sent, and ones that are exchanged from one network to another. The oldest node in the chain is the person who originally uploaded the file…and potentially committed piracy.
NICT is currently only “investigating” files being exchanged inside Japan but surely it’s simply just a matter of time before governments and corporations start using the system. You have been warned!
It was only two weeks ago that we blogged about ex-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s resignation tweet. Now, as a regular politician, he has resumed his micro-communiques…Or has he?
Hacking was suspected when a tweet he made yesterday at first glance thanked everyone for letting him “dance naked” (私に『裸踊り』をさせて下さったみなさん、有り難う)!
We all suspected some cyber pranksters to be at work (but then who knows with “loopy Hatoyama“). After confusion and controversy raged across the net for much of this morning all was clarified with another tweet: it seems he was referring metaphorically to the “leader lessons” gleamed from this Sasquatch Festival 2009 reveler. Glad we cleared that one up, then!
One of the most visually stunning of the exhibits at the recent Interop Tokyo 2010, Sharp’s huge 410-inch liquid crystal digital screen dazzled visitors by displaying morphing images all over the wall and floor.
The giant signage was made from connecting dozens of individual PN-V601 screen panels: 30 on the wall and a further 24 on the floor. Each of the screens is a mere 6.5mm thick, the thinnest in the world according to Sharp.
With sales expected to begin from August, you might just start to see more screens like this in airports, malls and stations in the near future.
We’ve all been reading about the growing popularity of Ustream in Japan. Softbank has acquired a huge share in the service and even opened up Ustream studios in central Tokyo for all us plebs to broadcast our lives.
Politicians are of course notorious for trying to get in on the latest craze, including SMS, so it was inevitable that they would start streaming themselves too. While former-PM Hatoyama had some success with Twitter, it seems, though, that his more regional colleagues are less lucky.
Osaka City Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu held a press conference yesterday which was simultaneously broadcast live on the web. Osaka, the second largest city in Tokyo, is often viewed as a fun but slightly uncouth place compared to the capital.
However, despite the Mayor’s attempts to keep up with the newest developments, according to reports on Sankei and others the broadcast was certainly not a success. The screen was apparently dark, the audio hard to make out, and only sixty people watched!
Twitter user naika_tei was in a real predicament recently. He found himself in the male toilets of Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, only to discover there was no toilet paper!
We’ve all been there and it usually doesn’t end, well, cleanly. Not to worry, social media to the rescue! He tweeted his dilemma: a few retweets and, twenty minutes later, a kind soul located him and provided some paper.
[Hat tip to Yajiuma Watch.]
As if launching another web feature, Utweet, specifically for its UT t-shirt range wasn’t enough, Uniqlo recently announced a new giant Shanghai store amidst fanfare and media attention. This being Uniqlo, though, it was only to be expected that they put their heads together for an online campaign too.
The store doesn’t open till May 15 but you can enjoy Chinese ladies in bright Uniqlo clothes online right now! Much like the eternally popular Uniqlock, the 88 Colors site features, well, eighty-eight girls prancing around. Of course, this isn’t just web self-indulgence on Uniqlo’s part, but advertising for its polo shirts range, available in, you’ve guessed it, 88 different colors.
The new Shanghai branch will be the largest ever for the chain, spanning 3,600 sq. meters and using 320 mannequins!
[Via Kokukaigi.]
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