1st burn mark
So my PowerBook G4's battery was recalled this week (Thank you SONY!). I am not alone though, 4 of my close friends also got their batteries recalled. bummer. I complied though and immediately stopped using it, after having applied for a replacement through the Apple site.

2nd burn mark
6 to 8 weeks!!? What the hell am I supposed to do for 6 to 8 weeks! This is a laptop computer! It goes to work, it goes to meetings, it goes to cafes, it goes places...

[NYtimes.com] David Rockefeller, chairman emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art, said yesterday that he had pledged $100 million toward its endowment - the biggest cash gift ever given to the museum.

I can think of about 10,000 NPOs that would be happy to share that money to develop their structures and work, and our Tokyo Art Beat is part of them! If you are rich, please also give a chance to smaller players that promote culture.

Granted, I tend to ride taxis to work and back more than I like to talk about (especially in winter Brrrrrr). But I balance the impact on the environment by riding my bike to work the other days... Maybe I should only ride Prius taxis... but in more than 2.5 years in Tokyo, I have only seen one.
Well, until this morning...

Seen on Cool Hunting last week is the Jimi, a plastic card case that is a little unconventional in its function and looks for people who don't like traditional wallets. The website is kinda overdone too but it was nice to see such an insignificant object get some functional attention. For my part, I bought a similar plastic card case in Amsterdam last April and have been using it happilly ever since.

Not to studios who underpay their animators, release very pricey DVDs of their anime series month after they were broadcasted on TV for free and go after anime portals that cater, alone, for the ever expanding non-Japanese anime fan community that they, themselves, don't seem to support.

Honda has developed the world's first Intelligent Night Vision System, which uses "far infrared" cameras to detect pedestrians in or approaching the vehicle's path and provides the driver visual and audio cautions to help prevent accidents involving pedestrians. Don't miss the Video.
It will be onboard the recently launched new Legend, which just won the Japan Car of the Year Award 2004-2005 and Most Advanced Technology Award.

Honda Develops Fuel Cell Scooter Equipped with Honda FC Stack.
Honda Develops Hybrid Scooter Prototype.

[The NYTimes.com] Four inventors working for Toyota in Japan have won a patent for a car that they say can help drivers communicate better by glaring angrily at another car cutting through traffic as well as appear to cry, laugh, wink, or just look around.

[MIT Car] This project comprises the design and build of a concept car which re-invents the car as a designed object, and redefines the user's relationship to the car and to the city. To take the design process "out of the box," the prototype will be designed from a new perspective: that of architecture. The project is led by architect Frank O. Gehry and General Motors. The final show car will be presented in early 2005.

[The Register] It may soon be possible to carry around an AK-47 assault rifle and an iPod with you down the street - and be arrested for carrying the iPod. That's according to critics of a Senate amendment to the copyright code proposed by Sen. Orrin Hatch this week called the 'Induce Act'. He wants to make the 'intentional inducement of copyright infringement' an offense, and this will extend liability to any manufacturer of a device which plays infringed material, or a shop that sells such a device, they say.

The "Induce Act" on one side and my IN-duce.net on the other... What a timely domain name I have!
Anyway, they are mostly talking about music... so how about I induced you to consume some free English-subbed anime? For those of you who don't know, you can get BitTorrent anime RSS feeds from a few sites now. I'll give you 4 today:
Animesuki
Baka Updates
SuprNova.org: Anime
Box Torrents
know others??
Enjoy...

[BBC News] A three-wheeled car that measures just one metre across and carries two people could be the answer to our growing traffic crisis, its developers say.

[ElectrifyingTimes.com] Coqueline Courreges created the new design of the Bulle EV, meaning Bubble in French. Andre Courreges, her famous fashion designer husband, made a prototype in 1969 of a little battery powered car.

[Metropolis] Honda will roll out another minivan in May, probably to be christened the 3 by 2, to reflect its seating layout of two rows of three seats that is currently unique to Fiat's Multipla.

[Happy Tree Friends] Cute, cuddly, and horribly wrong... It's the Happy Tree Friends! They may be sugary sweet but there's no way they'll escape their horrible fate! What chaos will these critters experience next? Check out our episode selection to find out! When it comes to animated mayhem, nothing beats Happy Tree Friends.

Now THAT's what I call "kimokawaii" (= kimochiwaruikawaii = cute but sick)!! My favourite so far: Eye Candy...

[AdWeek] They say that married couples, as well as pets and their owners, start to look alike after many years. In this new spot, Honda owners love their cars so much that they start resembling them.

[carpages] A television set switching itself off while a man falls asleep is an unusual way to advertise a car brand. Honda’s new ad also features a tap turning itself off after a man has finished brushing his teeth and lights which turn on as a train arrives at a platform. (...) The everyday scenes featured in the new advertisement demonstrate intelligent use of energy, but there is no obvious car connection. Or is there?

[Creative Review] Yet another fine ad for Honda, this time detailing a typical working day, via sequential close-ups of the inconsequential objects that help to make our lives easier. The idea being that these ingenious pieces of engineering also include the Civic.

After this year's Honda Cog advert for the Accord in the UK, Honda of America has just released a new advert for the Honda Element called "Purpose".

20Q and this thing guesses what you are thinking of. Great fun!

Photos of jumping people.
Mad.

my dream studies/job: invention & fun with radio-controlled robots. Don't miss the multiple videos over 6 pages and the 2 other websites linked to with more videos to discover.

Why do I love Japan? Cos these people are crazy and are still capable of pulling off events like that. Pure madness! This is cos-play (costume play).
Mr. Anderson, surprised to see me?

[Wirefarm] Safety Sign Builder. Make your own industrial warning signs. or here.

For anybody who ever took Japanese lessons... Here is a cracking piece of Flash animation I found a while ago. Some of you might have seen it, if you haven't, then please. You will never be able to pronounce those train station names the same way you did before.
It seems that this piece is based on a number by a Japanese comedy duo called the RAMENS.
Now who did the animation?

Been receiving for the past 2 weeks the "Word of the Day" from Dictionary.com. Have posted the ones I didn't know of here, but 2/3rds of the remaining ones, are French words! So French words would be the hardest English words?

maladroit \mal-uh-DROYT\, adjective:
Lacking adroitness; clumsy; awkward; unskillful; inept.

Reminded me of an article on the Christian Science Monitor website untitled English Sans French.

So should I add France instead of Syria to replace Iraq in my "Axis of Evil" Live Weather News module on my front page?

[BBC news] American Secretary of State Colin Powell has said France will suffer consequences for having opposed the US over the war with Iraq.

[SatireWire] Bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil," Libya, China, and Syria today announced they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil," which they said would be way eviler than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of his State of the Union address.
Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are Just as Evil... in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. "Everybody knows we're the best evils... best at being evil... we're the best."

Nice interface presenting (with sound) many different countries' spoken interpretations of the animal sounds. Always a good laugh!
via MeFi

Do you really think I had time to read 208 reasons?

209. Homer: 'Ooh! My horoscope. Taurus: today you will die.' Marge: 'WHAT?' [checks own horoscope] 'Today your husband will die?' (gasp). 'Homer, I'm scared!' Homer: 'Oh, scary newspaper! Don't hurt me, horoscope! ... AARGH!' [gets a paper cut]

via wirefarm

A huge collection of sentences based on that model and if you have been in Japan for long enough, you will really have a good laugh. Then if you want to laugh a bit more, have your Japanese friends go over it.

Who would have thought boobs could take on such a weird shape?

I am so proud to present you with an advert for Honda I did NOT work on but still manages to be bloody great!!

Engrish.com is a website that collects funny translation from English to Japanese amd other languages. Some are really cracking. Poor girl wearing a "I'M COCK" sweat-shirt.
And for those of us who just can't speak the engrish right, here's a study of our most common NON-efforts.

Re-Code.com : Re-Code Your Own Price for food, electronics, software, movies, music, and more!
Is this for real? I feel like trying it out but don't want to be thrown out of Japan though... Oh yes, they would do that.

A fun game. I made a nearly perfect, and was left with a group of 4 neighbouring countries: the -stan sisters where I had no clue which went where. Kyrgystan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
Makes me think I should put my Thesis about maps online.