They’ve been selling special “simplified” mobile phones lately, targeted at old people who apparently don’t “get” all the bells and whistles of typical models.
To this, reality responds:
“Get out of the way, whitey! I need a better signal so I can e-mail the jpeg to my grandkids!”
These were out in bloom last weekend by Kitanomaru Park, the area on the north side of the Imperial Palace around the Budokan (across the road from Yasukuni, which also has some gorgeous flowers in bloom).
This is the first sakura season I’ve seen since high school. Very, very natsukashii. One of the partners in our office, a retired judge who’s been practicing law since my parents were in diapers, insisted on taking a walk down Uchibori-dori after lunch the other day. Quite an excellent idea; nothing but pink flowers and gawking pedestrians in either direction. Times like this make me feel like there’s no place I’d rather be in the world. (Then I get on the Ginza Line and I just want to choke people.)
I made a big deal when Google Maps added data for Japan, but now Yahoo Japan has introduced a Java-based clone of Google Maps, complete with aerial photos. Check out this shot of the Defense Agency headquarters in Ichigaya…
And the area map, slightly zoomed out:
It’s still beta, but it kicks Google’s ass (and for that matter, everything Google makes is still in beta anyway). If you’re “nihongo OK,” do check it out.
On my favorite aviation gossip site, airliners.net, someone posted this Google Earth image of Heathrow Airport in London:
It looks like there are two planes on the same runway, and a third about to land on top of them. In reality, this is just an optical illusion of sorts caused by the way the composite is made: multiple photos are put together, and each photo is taken at a different point in time, resulting in what looks like too many planes on the runway. You can see similar effects around many other major airports. Or you might end up like this guy, who found an Airbus right over his house:
And the resolution is good enough to read the name of the airline!
January 1, 2006
The Japanese colonial village of Morisaka, preserved as a living museum. Unfortunately, there was a fire a couple of years ago, destroying a number of vintage houses. These charred wooden columns are all that remain of one structure.
Large image here.
February 26, 2006 Lugang, Taiwan
Larger image here.
Zhanghua, Taiwan February 16, 2006
He sits on the steps leading up to the giant Buddha of Zhanghua, which was the largest Buddha in the world until Hong Kong built theirs at Tian Tan. Laid out on the ground around him are old, laminated newspaper articles about him when he was younger. As visitors to the temple come up the stairs, he strikes a pose for them, but few even look at him.
Taichung, Taiwan February 15, 2006
At this noodle shop in Taichung, they serve noodles made by slicing off slivers of dough from a bread-loaf block of dough, flicking them into a cauldron of boiling water.
Proof that federal judges understand the beauty of internet porn, courtesy of Perfect 10 v. Google, Inc., Case No. CV 04-9484 AHM (C.D. Cal. Feb. 21, 2006):
In the final analysis, P10’s use is to provide “entertainment,” both in magazines and on the internet. For some viewers, P10’s use of the photos creates or allows for an aesthetic experience.
Aesthetic indeed.
Contrary to P10’s contention, photographs of nude women can, like photographs of the American West, vary greatly.
Ride ’em, cowboy!
Both kinds of pictures can be described verbally, yet no matter how susceptible any image is to textual description, words cannot adequately substitute for thumbnails in quickly and accurately conveying the content of indexed full-size images.
Ain’t it the truth. And this has got to be the best footnote ever:
Google argues that P10’s works are not creative because P10 “emphasizes the objects of the photographs (nude women) and [P10] assumes that persons seeking Perfect 10’s photos are searching for the models and for sexual gratification.” Google contends that this “implies a factual nature of the photographs.” The Court rejects this argument. The P10 photographs consistently reflect professional, skillful, and sometimes tasteful artistry. That they are of scantily-clothed or nude women is of no consequence; such images have been popular subjects for artists since before the time of “Venus de Milo.”
I wonder if this judge is still hiring clerks?
(The practical effect of this decision might be to end or at least limit the wonderful thumbnail function on Google Image Search; for more, see this Wired article.)
Here’s something you might see if you take an early morning flight on an overcast day:
It surprises me that people can sleep when things like this are showing up outside their windows!
