Tokyo and tech through the eyes of a split pea

Super Mario Mushroom Burgers!

Made some Super Mario Mushroom Burgers for my girlfriend’s birthday.
1-hour in the kitchen.
7-hours of full stomach (these were big burgers).
eternal cuteness.

Credit to Instructibles.

Japanese Gifting

Like weddings in any other culture, weddings in Japan put a nice dent in the wallet. But Japanese weddings also put a nice dent in an attendees wallet too – through the customary practice of “money envelopes”.
It’s customary as a guest at Japanese weddings to give a special envelope of freshly minted bills. So customary [...]

Good Crew 新アルバム近々発売！

現在私がコロムビアミュージックエンタティンメント（株）で開発しているプロジェクトの「音レボ」、ご覧になれましたでしょうか？９月から１２月の間、インターネット上でキャンペーンを開催し、一位になったバンドがメジャーデビューする約束の結果がそろそろ誕生します！
アマゾンからのパクリ：
アーティストについて
約2000組のアーティストと12000名を超えるリスナー(2008年1月現在)が登録しているコロムビアミュージックエンタテイメントの音楽コミュニティ『音レボ』。その第1回オーディションで12000名のリスナーからの人気投票で第1位に選ばれ今回デビューすることになったのがGOOD CREW(グッドクルー)です。

勿論自分も関わってるプロジェクトですが、正直の意見を言うとこのバンド、面白い！是非聞いてみてください！
Otorevo will soon be releasing the first album under the new Otorevo label and by the winner of Japan’s first all-internet voted music contest! The band is Good Crew, the album is Nippon Ha:ski, and the link for your enjoyment is an exclusive deal with Amazon – pre-order now!

Preparing for the geriatric generation

As issues pertaining to Japan’s aging population continue for close to a decade now, here’s an idea to keep them healthy – playgrounds for grandparents!
Since by definition the population of children utilizing current playgrounds is declining, Japan shouldn’t be having a land-shortage for such parks either!

Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year!

Surprise! ATRAC on its way out!

Sony’s Connect service, which saw its writing on the wall even before it was officially launched, is now officially shutting down.  And Sony’s longtime controversial proprietary audio codec ATRAC is headed to the trash.  Surprise, surprise :)
Readers of M@Blog may recall a few entries I posted while working in Sony’s Audio Codec Development Group – [...]

camera + 回転寿し

Camera + 回転寿し = fun!

Improved service?

Sign at an exclusive club:

Have a Wii, some design skills, and a little spare time? MiiStation is hiring!

Never in our wildest dreams did we think this would happen, but MiiStation is “looking to hire”.  To date, approximately 40% of orders on MiiStation are by non-Wii owners who want a Mii-like avatar for other digital contexts.  Now almost two weeks after a 100% price hike, the number of Mii orders continues to rise, [...]

Creepy crawlies comin’ out o’ the woods

Two days ago:  I get up from my train seat motioning to get off and the man standing in front of me, grasping a dangling handle, won’t budge.  I duck under his arm and swing around to his right, but the door is to his left so now I must walk behind him.  It’s a [...]