Saturday, July 16, 2005

Google Poo

Just a silly observation here - I added Google Ads to the page a few weeks ago in a vain effort to earn some money to buy the nifty toys we find while 'researching' items for our blog. I've been keeping an eye on the results lately and I am bemused to see that based on the content of the site Google deems the most effective ads to be:

1 - Related to hazardous materials and their disposal.
2 - Dog poo cleanup items
3 - Composters

I really hope this isn't the typical impression our faithfull readers are getting of our site even if the worlds premier search engine seems to think we are all about poo. At least search results from Google related to waste don't seem to be brining people here with misguided expectations.

I'll try no to interpret this as a sign.

Your brand new (wooden) keyboard


I ran across this immaculate wooden keyboard produced by the Hacao company of Japan. Before you set your sights on one of these beautiful devices you should know that yes it is fully functional and that it sells for the heart wrenching price of 262,500 Yen ($2340 USD) plus shipping.

See the translated link here.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Google Maps now covers Japan.



That's right Google Maps has added street level maps of Japan. Now, all you need to do is learn Japanese to find your way around.

Here's the link to Tokyo

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Sushi-USB



For those of you who feel that Sushi bandages just aren't enough to get your fishy fix you'll be happy to know that Dynamism (Japanese 'grey market' gizmo importer) has a full line of Sushi flavored thumb drives. Yummy!

Welcome iDog



From the "and you thought Asimo was it" department comes the all new iDog from Sega. iDog enjoys music, dancing, and being touched. Sounds like a nice pooch but I wonder why it looks so much like my Netgear router!

Monday, July 11, 2005

In Kitchen Composter

We looked at a neat story in the NYTimes on Japanese garbage/recycling recently. I was checking out the Toshiba 'life' page today and found that they sell (beautifull) devices that compost kitchen waste. The model I link to here will process .7 kg/day and turn it into 'fresh compost'. This sounds like a better idea than all those big black bags we put out on the street every week.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

YuzuMura.com: Bamboo Garden Icy-Crispy Dragon Beard Candy

Check thisout!
Bamboo Garden Icy-Crispy Dragon Beard Candy - made by a "skilled candy-maker repeatedly stretches and doubles a small mass of sugar and maltose until over 8000 fine strands are formed. Finally, the strands are trimmed and wrapped around finely chopped, lightly roasted coconut, peanuts and sesame seeds."

Sounds YUMMY!

Translated Suntory Scene

I don't know about but I loved the movie Lost in Translation. I particularly enjoyed the 'Suntory Time' commercial shoot (and the 'escort' scene .. but that's another post) so I was really excited to actually find out what was the director in the scene was saying in Japanese. Check it out at this spiffy web page located here.

Running Asimo

I bumped into a neat Japanese video of the Asimo (Honda's astronaut looking robot) racing an older gentleman at an airport. I wonder what's up with the books in the background? Oh well... check it out Here./