Shuji Mochida's Blog

Intel SSD taking off in Akihabara

2009-07-28T11:02:00.003+09:00

After the 80GB model became below 30,000 yen, the Intel SSD HDDs are sold well in Akihabara.

http://akiba-pc.watch.impress.co.jp/hotline/20090801/etc_shopwatch.html

New technology of 34 nm processing and the Intel brand seem to be enough to attract many people.

Matsue Castle

2009-07-24T21:46:00.003+09:00

During the Meiji Restoration period, a lot of castles in Japan were destroyed. Fortunately, this Matsue-Jo Castle, which was built in 1611 after 5 years construction, survived and still stands beautifully at the hill top of the Matsue City.

The keep of the castle looks 5 storied building, but it is trickily built with 6 floors inside. The castle shows some aspects of the civil war period in order to protect the people inside. Black wall of the keep and the stone wall surrounding the building, for example, are all built for practical protection purposes rather than keeping the appearance clean and beautiful.

The second floor also shows the surviving strategy of the castle. You can see the well to pick up water about 30 m below the floor. It also has internal storage space to keep food.

The third floor has helmets and protectors from the civil war period. You can also see old paintings and miniature models of the castle and surrounding regions in different times.

The top floor offers spectacular view of the Matsue City. Toward southwest, you can see beautiful Shinjiko Lake. In the morning, you might be able to see small boats picking up small shells (Shijimi), which go quite well with Miso soup.

I visited the castle last Sunday after maybe more than 15 years. Unfortunately, there were not so many non-Japanese people. I think the castle should be something that the Japanese people should feel proud of and should be more openly promoted outside of Japan.

Moon's shade on the Earth

2009-07-23T21:25:00.004+09:00

This photograph taken from the US satellite Terra displays the shade of the Moon on the Earth. As can be seen on the photo, Tokyo was under the thick clouds, so people were not able to observe the eclipse. However, when the clouds sometimes became thin, the sun became visible through the clouds.

When I came out of the building just before 12 noon, I couldn't locate where the sun was. However, when the clouds became thinner, I was able to spot the sun and took some photos with iPhone. I was a bit worried about my eyes because I had had retinal bleeding many times on my both eyes, and I should be extremely careful about ultraviolet sun light. However, this was such a thrilling event that I decided to take some photos anyway, considering that high frequency waves such as ultraviolet light should be scattered away by water molecules in the clouds. Of course, that filtering effect doesn't screen the higher energy (and shorter wave length) waves, so it's better not to see the sun in naked eyes. Fortunately, iPhone's LCD is big and clear enough to see the sun through it. I guess this is one of the safest ways to see the sun.

After taking photos, my eyes have been OK so far. However, maybe I should see an eye doctor to diagnose my eyes soon, just to be safe.

One Minute Adjustment

2009-06-07T11:41:00.002+09:00

While I was on a train, I heard an announcement that said the train would stop at the station for one minute for time adjustment. I was quite surprised because in other countries, they would not mention anything for just a minute adjustment. Even German people say that one minute difference is considered to be punctual in Germany.

Milkroll

2009-06-06T19:39:00.000+09:00

This small bakery sells fresh bread they just bake right behind the counter. Each roll starts from 25 yen, and you can enjoy gentle flavor of butter and milk. With higher price, you can enjoy different flavors such as custard cream, red bean paste (anpan), french toast, chestnut, raisin, and other sweet items. Typically, you would see a line of people waiting in front of the bakery, so you can easily find it on the street.

Milkroll
4-37-25 Honcho, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, 164-0012
03-3381-5541

Example of cutting live report

2008-09-18T04:56:00.000+09:00

The following CNN video is cut off in the middle of live report from New York.

I heard that CNN cuts off live reports when they found something inappropriate. This is a great example of how such things could happen.

Coffee at McDonald's

2008-06-29T03:38:00.000+09:00

Ever since I saw Super Size Me, I have not been to McDonald's. I have been afraid of eating greasy hamburgers and french fries. However, someone told me that their coffee was actually not so bad. So, today, I tried a cup of coffee at one of the stores in San Francisco.

Actually, the taste was really good, much better than Starbucks'. Also, I usually don't like the background music of Starbucks, but at least at the time of my visit today, McDonald's played a lot of my favorite music. They also have WiFi connections. So, I thought staying at McDonald's is actually not so bad as long as you can endure the smell of greasy food and screaming kids.

Wasteful California

2008-06-28T12:52:00.000+09:00

Even though California is supposed to be the most advanced state in the US in terms of eco-friendly life, I still see a lot of wasteful use of resources here.

Usually, at public places, air conditioning is too strong. The temperature can be set higher in most cases where some people have to wear jackets. If you go to bath rooms in such places, the water pressure is usually too strong compared with that of Europe or Japan. By reducing the water pressure, the amount of unnecessary water that flows away into the pipe can be reduced significantly.

If we go outside, we don't see laundry hanging on balconies or gardens. In most places, hanging laundry is prohibited because it's eyesore and considered to be a sign of low-income district. I feel that such an idea is quite absurd, and I believe it's just the mind set of people who bring that kind of thinking. At least in Japan, hanging your cloths outside is nothing wrong at all. (Interestingly, ecologically advanced European nations such as Germany, the Netherlands, Francs, and England also don't have hanging laundry outside as well.)

At restaurants, we see tables covered with white paper. This may be good to preserve good looking of table sheets and may also save cleaning cost of these sheets. However, by using a number of pieces of such white paper, we are certainly cutting down trees somewhere on the earth. When I see restaurant workers throw away such paper, I feel a bit sad thinking about the amount of waste.

There are some restaurants where we can dine outside. However, in Northern California, it may become cold in the evening, and many restaurants prepare heater outside to warm tables. Why can't they simply close tables outside and only allow people stay inside to have dinner? Maybe restaurant owners think that it's still profitable to bring people outside even though they have to pay energy cost of outside heaters. This may be changed soon if the cost of energy keeps skyrocketing.

In general, the trend of being sustainable and eco-friendly is a very welcome concept. Even though I don't feel it's a good idea to prohibit plastic bags at supermarkets, bringing the awareness of preservation to people through such activities is a really nice effort. I would like to observe other kaizen points in my life here in California to contribute better sustainability and carbon footprint. Even though not so many people may see such postings, I hope it's still a meaningful act.

Halo

2008-06-27T14:52:00.001+09:00

Last week we were able to see the sun with halo in San Francisco.

One Passenger Car

2008-06-27T00:51:00.000+09:00

Japan's Topia is demonstrating a proto-type one passenger car.

The electric-powered vehicle only weighs 150 kg. They achieved this lightweight by using CFRP carbon fiber ceiling, poly-carbonate front window, and High Tensile Strength Steel Sheets for the body frame.

This is a perfect car for narrow streets of Tokyo, Munich, San Francisco, and other cities!