Category: Apocalypse

Lame “no liquids” rule coming to Japan airports

From Bloomberg:

South Korea, Japan to Limit Liquids on All Overseas Flights

By Seonjin Cha

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — South Korea and Japan will expand restrictions on carrying liquids on board international flights from Thursday, to thwart terrorist attacks.

Passengers on all international flights from South Korea, including transit flights, will only be allowed to bring in liquids, gels and aerosol items in containers no larger than 100 milliliters (3.38 oz.), which must be placed in transparent plastic bags, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said yesterday on its Web site.

The same restrictions will go into effect for all international flights from Japan, the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on its Web site on Dec. 19.

The move is an expansion of current restrictions on flights to the U.S. and EU countries that began last year based on guidelines from the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Korean ministry said.

Food for infants and medicines will be exempt from the restrictions but must be reported to security staff in advance, the ministry said.

I thought the “liquid bomb” theory was already discredited! There needs to be some kind of multilateral negotiating body where cooler heads can veto very bad ideas like this liquid rule and infinite copyright term extension.

Today’s trivia – 2007.2.19

Joseph Conrad’s famous novel Heart of Darkness was based on the author’s experiences in the Belgian Congo. King Leopold II of Belgium had originally wanted to establish his colony in the Philippines, but Spain refused to sell the islands to him. When the film Apocalypse Now, set in Vietnam and based on the novel Heart of Darkness, was made they filmed it in the Philippines.

Robot news: Elderly cyborg terminators from Cyberdyne

This report from the Nikkei scares the hell out of me:

Cyberdyne’s Wearable Robot Suit To Help Seniors

TSUKUBA, Ibaraki Pref. (Nikkei)–A wearable robot suit developed by university scientists that aids the user’s hand and leg movements may be Japan’s answer to a graying society in which a great number of people require lifestyle assistance, or so the developers hope.

The Hybrid Assistive Limb, or HAL, suit was developed by a team led by Tsukuba University professor Yoshiyuki Sankai. It is equipped with sensors that respond to the wearer’s brain signals telling muscles to move. With the legs and arms moving slightly before the user’s, the suit enables wearers to walk easily, without straining their arms or legs, and lift items weighing more than 20 kilograms. It is currently being used in trials at health care facilities specializing in the elderly.

cyberdyne-robot-suit-350p.jpgCyberdyne Inc., a venture set up by Tsukuba University, will team up with Daiwa House Industry Co. (1925) to produce 400 HAL suits a year. To this end, Daiwa House recently invested roughly 1 billion yen into the company through a private placement of new shares. The Tsukuba University spinoff will use the proceeds to establish a mass production infrastructure by next fall.

A “HAL” designed by “Cyberdyne.” There are two possible explanations here: 1) the developers are actually trying to help the elderly and just happen to be big fans of apocalyptic science fiction; or 2) They are diabolical madmen with a sense of irony and are raising an army of elderly cyborgs to rule the world.

35-year-old plaintiff to force 2ch founder Hiroyuki into bankruptcy!

The axe may indeed fall on Hiroyuki, though 2ch itself is unlikely to actually change hands. ZAKZAK reports that the man who filed to seize Hiroyuki assets has decided to file to force Hiroyuki into bankruptcy. This is a move that was taken by shareholders of Kinmirai Tsushin Co. recently when cmopany officials tried to flee with their money, and it works:

Kinmirai Tsuushin is suspected of defrauding some 3,000 individual and corporate investors of 40 billion yen by promising to pay lucrative dividends on the basis of its nonexistent Internet telephony operations.

The Metropolitan Police Department began questioning former Kinmirai Tsuushin executives earlier this week over the alleged fraud, investigative sources said. Ishii is now abroad, they said.

On Dec. 7, a real estate company, one of the 3,000 investors, asked the court to declare Kinmirai Tsuushin bankrupt. The real estate company had invested 55 million yen in response to Kinmirai Tsuushin’s solicitation of investments.

The plaintiff noted that he only decided to go forward with this action because the initial reports on Jan 12 of his moves against Hiroyuki sparked further harassment from 2ch readers.

Depending on how things work out, Hiroyuki’s irresponsibility may cause a major disruption in the regular functioning of the Japanese Internet culture. Not that I feel that bad — though it’s a great site in many respects, 2ch is, as Joe just noted, the best example of what happens when the Internet Fuckwad effect goes unchecked for almost 10 years.

But it looks like he is helping pioneer new ways of making the court system effective against harassment campaigns. Meanwhile, there’s more activity on the 2ch site than ever before, and angry 2channelers have been swinging wildly at people who have sued Hiroyuki, such as American-born activist Arudo Debito.

2ch to be shut down??!?

UPDATE: 2ch might be safe after all.

top12.gifZAKZAK reports that a 35-year-old man who is suing 2 channel founder Hiroyuki Nishimura has filed to put a lien on all Nishimura’s assets, including the 2ch.net domain. The filing comes after months of Nishimura’s complete refusal to respond to any legal actions against him, including judgments ordering him to delete inflammatory posts and even pay compensation.

Nishimura can object to the motion, but if he does not respond 2ch could be shut down in as early as 2 weeks! He may decide to move the 2ch servers to a different domain, but such a move could take up to 2 weeks due to the decentralized nature of the server.

DOUBLE UPDATE: So far it looks like ZAKZAK has the exclusive scoop on the motion to seize Hiroyuki’s assets, and we at MF have the first reporting of the development in English. ZAKZAK’s close connection to the story could stem from their earlier coverage of Hiroyuki’s legal troubles.

UPDATE: A fitting goodbye as any (if it doesn’t show up look at post 34 in this thread):

34 ：名無しさん＠七周年：2007/01/12(金) 13:48:23 ID:LrUGxQZl0
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　∧ ∧　　　∧ ∧
　　 ／⌒~~~⌒＼ 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(　 　,,) 　　(,,・Д・)
　／ （ ﾟ〟д〟ﾟ ）y─┛~~ 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　～（＿__ﾉ 　～（＿__ﾉ　,?＿
（_ ノ? Ｕ　　∩_∩）　　　THANK YOU　2ｃｈ　　　　　┌───────┐　　　＼
　　?＿＿＿Ｊ _Ｊ　　　　　　　　　and　　　 　 　　　 （｜ ●　　　 　 　 ●　| 　　　 　ヽ
　　／￣￣￣￣＼ 　GOOD-BYE ２ｃｈ WORLD！ ／.|　.┌▽▽▽▽┐　.|____|__||_| ））
　/　　　　 ●　　●､　　　　　　　　　　　　 　 　　 　（　┤ .｜　 　 　 　 ｜　.|□━□ ）
　|Y　　Y　　　　　　　＼　またどこかで会おうね　　＼.　 .└△△△△┘　.|　 J　　|）
　|.| 　 ｜　　　 　 　.▼ |　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　｜　＼あ＼　　　　　 |　∀　ﾉ
　| ＼／ 　　 　 　 ＿人|∧∧∩゛冫、　.∧＿∧　 　 　 |　 　 ＼り.＼ 　 　 . |　 – ′
　|　　　　　　 ＿/）/）／( ﾟДﾟ)/　`　 .　（´∀｀　）..ヽ(´ー｀)ノ　　＼が＼ . 　 |　 ）
　＼　　　　／ 〔／＼〕　U　　/　∩∩　（　　　　） （＿＿＿）　　　 ＼と.＼　.|／
　　｜ ｜　|　ｃ（*・_・）　 |　　|ヽ(´ー｀)ノ_|　 |　 |　｜　　　｜～ ／＼.＼う＼|　(-＿-)
　　（_＿）＿）　UUUU　/∪∪ （＿＿_）（＿（＿_） ◎￣￣◎─┘　.└──┘.（∩∩）

Murals of Wat Phra Kaew

Sure, the shiny gold buildings, freaky demon statues, and annoying Korean tourists at Wat Phra Kaew, the royal temple of Bangkok, were plenty fun, but what really did it for me were the fantastic murals that cover the entire inner wall. What exactly is going on, or what saga it is based on, I have no idea, but I do know that I want Peter Jackson to make a movie version of it, starting tomorrow.

Update: From the Wikipedia article in The Ramayana.

Thailand’s popular national epic Ramakien is derived from the Hindu epic. In Ramakien, Sita is the daughter of Ravana and Mandodari (T’os’akanth (=Dasakand) and Mont’o). Vibhisana (P’ip’ek), the astrologer brother of Ravana, predicts calamity from the horoscope of Sita. So Ravana has her thrown into the waters, who, later, is picked by Janaka (Janok). While the main story is identical to that of the Ramayana, many other aspects were transposed into a Thai context, such as the clothes, weapons, topography, and elements of nature, which are described as being Thai in style. It has an expanded role for Hanuman and he is portrayed as a lascivious character. Ramakien can be seen in an elaborate illustration at the Wat Phra Kaew temple in Bangkok.

You can read an English translation of the Ramakien online here.

These images cannot be appreciated in such a small space, so please click on them for a larger file.

What Adamu thinks: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Being the preeminent experts that we at the Mutant Frog Travelogue are, some Japanese university student has decided to use us as a primary resource for a major research project (or more likely, the subject of one of the countless “survey the foreigner” projects they give in university English classes). Here’s what the questioner wanted to know:

Dear Mr. Mutant frog.
Hello! I’m a [Japanese] University student. I get your e-
mail address at MUTANT　FROG　TORAVELOGUE. [This university]
is Japanese university. Our English class was to sending e-mail which
has some questions about things which have interest.

Questions.

・ What do you think Prime Minister Shinzo Abe?

・ How will Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe be different
from the ex-Prime Minister Koizumi?

・ Do you think Japan become better? And I want to listen to your
opinion.

Thank you.
From [a] university in Japan.

Continue reading What Adamu thinks: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Automobiling in 1906 – Peak oil is coming!

Looking through the NYT online archives, which now allow viewing of articles back to 1851 with a Times Select account, I came across a Jan 18, 1906 feature on an auto-show at Madison Square Garden, in which I found three fascinating nuggest. Each one gets its own post.


Ethanol is so 1906.

＊＊＊

GASOLINE GETTING SCARCE

Motorists May Have to Use Alcohol Before Long–Dust Nuisance

Winthrop E. Scarritt, ex-President of the Automobile Club of America, was the chief speaker yesterday at the Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory at the general meeting of the American Automobile Association. He sounded a note of warning upon the decreasing supply of gasoline and predicted that alcohol might have to be utilized in the future for motor service.

“There are in use in America,” he said, “approximately 70,000 motor cars. These do not consume as much as the 800,000 gasoline stoves which are in use all over the Middle West, where fuel is always high, and it is due to the use of gasoline for such purposes that has been the chief cause during the past five years in doubling the price of gasoline. The California and Texas oils are practically barren of gasoline distsillates, and while the supply of gasoline is not growing, its consumption is rapidly increasing. What is our remedy for this threatening situation? It lies in the direction of vegetable alcohol. At present the United States Government taxes all alcohol at $2 per gallon. There is no reason why this tax should not be removed on denatured alcohol, that is, alcohol rendered unfit for beverage. Experiments with this fuel made in France, also in America, by Prof. Elihu Thompson, show that it may be utilized as a motor fuel successfully. Germany last year used over 70,000,000 gallons of denatured vegetable alcohol.”

Mr. Scarritt stated that a bill was about to be introduced in Congress providing for the removal of the tax on vegetable alcohol, and he advised all automobilists to unite in supporting the measure.

Panamanian Frogopalypse

A deadly fungus is sweeping across Cenral America, extinguishing species after species of amphibian. Over 120 species are known to have succumbed so far, and biologists fear that if nothing is done, all remaining species in the region could be annihilated as well. At the moment, a treasured species of golden frog is clinging to existence inside the walls of a “crumbling backpackers’ hangout.” Conservationists, with the support of desperate frog-loving locals, are taking drastic measures to keep their land full of these fragile, colorful, and sometimes mildly translucent creatures.

With the public quelled, the frog rescue project turned to its next phase: building a state-of-the-art center at a private zoo in El Valle to house the delicate frogs. The nearly completed center will be the ecological equivalent of a nuclear fallout shelter, a refuge from a toxic environment and an uncertain future.

While I imagine most readers will be reminded of Noah’s ark, my first thought when I read this was of the science fiction novel I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson, in which a lone surviving human stays holed up in a fortified building in the middle of a city, fighting off daily attacks by crazed plague-spawn vampires. Hmmm, a community of Brian Jacques style anthropomorphic frogs in a Panamanian rainforest-esque setting, mutated into ravenous beasts by a strange fungus, only one frog left untouched. Or better yet, The Wind in the Willows is in the public domain. It could be a sequel- Toad of Toad Hall, no longer content with puttering around the home countryside in his “magnificent motor-car” decides to go on a grand Central American expedition, but little does he know that in the jungle there lurks an unexpected danger…