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Also worth reading:
- Radioactive Rice Hay in Tochigi: 106,000 Becquerels/Kg Cesium – July 25th
- Radiation in Japan Spreads: Wheat, Rapeseeds in Fukushima, Rice Hay Outside Fukushima Far Exceeding Safety Limit – July 24th
- Over 2,600 Meat Cows Suspected of Being Fed with Radioactive Rice Hay – July 23rd
- Radioactive Beef from Tochigi Prefecture – Discovery Follows Hayakawa Map – July 23rd
- 240 Children in 3 Nursery Schools in Yamagata Prefecture Ate Cesium Beef – July 19th
- Radioactive Cesium from Shiitake Mushrooms Grown Indoors in Date City, Fukushima – July 15th
- Beef from Fukushima to Be Tested (Somehow) in Fukushima from Now On, But It’s Too Late For School Kids in Yokohama – July 12th

These are all articles from Japanese sources. With English translations. Read and weep..

The Digiko Dunlop Girls perform, what I believe to be a popular Puffy song at the time; Cant remember the title.

There were many girls performing at the Tokyo Motor Show that day, but I was most impressed with this group. They captured the pure, innocent silliness often associated with radial tires. :D.
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Related – WATCH the most recent Digiko Girls performance here..

Scenes from a robot expo in Yokohama, Japan. Celebrating Astro Boy’s 50th anniversary, this expo focused on cute, entertaining robots. Featuring Honda Asimo, Sony Qrio, and the cyclops Neon.
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Some close-ups of Asimo’s ankle joints, tinted face shield, and knees.

The lighting was strange/futuristic and the fluid/freaky motions of Asimo made this an intriguing clip; still one of my personal favorites. Shot at one of the Robodex Expos in Yokohama, Japan.
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Originally released in 2002.

I met up with one of the founders of Vgo Communications to talk about their latest ‘active presence personal avatar’. I was impressed with the simple design, functionality, and price. At around 5,000 USD, I can see this little thing flying off the shelves for gandma and grandpa..

From the press release: “.. A remote worker establishes their presence in a distant location using VGO, a 4 ft tall stylish audio / video communication device. The remote person’s live image is displayed on the LCD display and they can be heard through VGO’s integrated speakers. With its intelligent drive system, a distant worker can maneuver in tight spaces and turn within VGO’s footprint. VGO can move from a snail’s pace to a brisk walking speed…”
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Tall, lanky models walk around futuristic Nissan cars at the Tokyo Motor Show.. Oh, yeah. The car! I think it’s a prototype Nissan Ideo, from 2003.
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

My first real clip of effectively mixing sound-loops with video. The Mercedes Benz F400 Carving surprised me when I first saw it; The real-life Batmobile!

Three weeks after I posted this clip, I received an email from Germany. It was from one of the engineers who helped design the front-end steering mechanism for the F400. He liked the video and wanted to know more about what I saw at the Motor Show that day; the crowds, the impressions, the atmosphere at the Mercedes area.

We exchanged a few emails, and I got the first taste of what video could bring to the Internet experience. This was in 2001 and broadband hadn’t matured yet. At the time, everyone was streaming content. I hated streaming video; Downloading small packages of quality video was a much better experience, in my opinion.. and I knew what the viewers were seeing.

You can find more on the F400 Carving at Edmunds.com: “Incorporating drive-by-wire technology, this ‘Benz controls steering and braking through computer-monitored impulses rather than conventional racks and cables. This allows for quicker responses from the car; after all, these computers are smarter than you. They override human inputs that it deems as incorrect (Hal? Hal?)..”
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Some of the scenery at Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi, Japan. I shot this video a few days before it opened.

Overall, I was impressed; Grass, open space in back and natural wood inside. Much easier to navigate than Roppongi Hills, and the water everywhere keeps it cool during summer. Inside is well lit from abundant skylights.. A pleasant experience.

The video was quickly chopped together so it could be released before Midtown’s official opening in March, 2007. I got press access a couple days prior..

Read the related article from Tokyo Reporter.
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

An interpretation of robot evolution; reptilian, seated/upright, then bipedal. Definite cheese factor evident, but the clip was popular when first released. Some decent shots of the serpent robot, with its small spinning drive-train and ability to roll-over or climb obstacles.
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !