TED sixth sense technology from MIT Medai Lab

I didn't know much about what TED is but the a technology shown in this video is very fun. A MIT student in the media lab came up with a new human computer interaction system called "sixth sense." The idea is wearing a device consisting of a projector and a webcam and a cellphone. The cellphone is used to get information from the internet and the webcam is used to recognize finger gesture of a person wearing this device and get a digital image of scene in front of the person. The Projector is used to project a variety of things such as characters, images, buttons and so on. The webcam also recognize the image projected. My favorite use of this system is creating a watch on user's wrist and erasing it by finger gesture. The technology used in this system is not particularly new. However, creating and showing a novel concept deserves applause, I think. And I re-realized the importance of the way to show our ideas. Design is also an important factor, I think. That's MIT.

Darth Vader

I am a fan of star wars as many men are. My favorite character is Darth Vader. Actually, all star wars series describe his life, from birth to death. So, he is a true main character from the first one to the last one. I heard that George Lucas was inspired by a Japanese samurai armor. When it comes to Light Saver, which is a Jedi's sword, I guess it was inspired by a samurai sword. And I like the Imperial March, which is a theme song of Darth Vader. Whenever I listen to it, it starts sticking my ear. I think it is one of the best film musics ever created.

Voice of Mickey Mouse dies at 62

Today I heard the news that voice actor of Mickey Mouse died at 62. And I also heard that his wife is voice actress of Minnie Mouse! And they have 5 children! It looks like he is really Mickey. May his soul rest in peace. Here is a brief introduction of Mickey's story.

Sea turtle

I'm going to write about Hawaii again because I forgot to write about an interesting sea creature, a sea turtle in Hawaii. As you can see in this picture, we can see a sea turtle in Hawaii. It seems that we can see a sea turtle with a high probability. So it means that I was not very very lucky guy. It's quite surprising that we can see them easily, isn't it? The reason of it is nothing short of people's effort. In Hawaii, it is strictly prohibited to touch sea turtles. Once sea turtles are found on a beach, guardians rush there and surround the sea turtle by a red rope to define a border. People are not allowed to get in the surrounded area. The way people treat sea turtles is letting them natural. People don't feed them ( it is also prohibited ) but maintain optimal environment for them so that they naturally inhabit there.
I saw a sea turtle try to get on the beach but he/she gave up and disappeared. The way sea turtles swim is very dynamic although their movement on land is slow. :)

Jamie Pugh - Britain's Got Talent - Show 4

I became a fan of this TV show, Britain's Got Talent. I wonder why these talented people had been out of the public eye for a long time. And I envy them who are good at singing. I like singing but I wish I could sing like them. Here in Japan, we have karaoke. Karaoke is a leisure activity which people of all ages enjoy doing. In Japan, there are so many places called "Karaoke box" where we can sing a variety of songs ranging from latest music to traditional Japanese song, "Enka", with background music and lyrics on a TV screen. "Karaoke box" is a small room and we can control lighting and we can order foods and drinks through an intercom attached to each room. Each room has a sound insulation wall so that we don't hear other customers' song. Ah, today's topic is a guy in this video clip. But I don't have to say much about this clip if you see it. An Image ( video ) tells more than words do. ;)

ACADEMIC EARTH

This time, I introduce this interesting website, which offers "Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars" as it says. As of now, I watched computer science lecture from Stanford and Astronomy lecture from Yale. Both of them are very interesting. Not only contents but also the way teachers teach are interesting for me. All of lecturers are passionate and good at teaching. They are like entertainers. I guess they are supposed to make their lecture interesting, otherwise they may be fired. I think this website is also good for learning English because English used in lecture is basic. In particular, it is good for preparing for TOEFL because some of its questions are given through a lecture about something.

This is a panorama from top of Diamond Head which is a small mountain close to Waikiki. Diamond Head is technically not a ordinary mountain. Actually it is a crater. You can see a shape of the crater clearly from top of it. From Diamond Head, you can see beautiful panorama of Waikiki city.


We joined a guided tour to North shore. North shore is famous for not only big waves but also yummy shrimp. There are many aquaculture pond for shrimp. And there are many vans that offer "shrimp plate" containing shrimps and rice and source. I had never eaten such yummy shrimps. One of its features is source. It is Hawaiian style source, I think. Shrimp in North shore is definitely worth trying! It seems that many customers wrote messages on the van.


It goes without saying that Hawaii is well known for Hula. One thing that I didn't know before going to Hawaii is that typical Hula we imagine is not a traditional dance in Hawaii. It is called modern Hula that was created by foreigner who tried to make Hawaii attractive tourist island. Traditional one is more powerful and spiritual and sacred because it is a ritual while modern one is more relaxing and catchy. I like both of them because each of them has its own feature.

Sea, sea, sea!

Waikiki beach

North shore

me standing on the cliff

Hawaii is definitely well known for its beautiful sea. First picture is famous Waikiki beach. Although it was very beautiful, it was very crowded. In addition, I guess Waikiki beach is not natural but artificial. Second picture is North shore. It is famous for big waves. In winter, strong heaves surge to North shore and create huge and tubular waves. When I was there, I could see relatively big waves and some surfers doing surfing. (See second picture) Of course I'm not good enough to do surfing in North shore. Waves in Waikiki beach looked moderate and good size for me, but sea was very crowded, which discouraged me to do surfing in Waikiki beach...

Duke Kahanamoku Statue

Duke Kahanamoku is generally regarded as the person who popularized the modern sport of surfing. He was also an Olympic champion in swimming. This picture is a statue of him standing in Waikiki beach, Oahu. You can find him easily in the beach. You can also see "live" Duke Kahanamoku here.

Spaghetti tree in Hawaii

Do you think that this is a fallen tree? In fact this is not. This tree is called Spaghetti tree. I'm sure that you understand the meaning of this name. This tree is a dangerous tree for woodsman because when they cut one of the branch, other branch may fall down and hit them unexpectedly. I heard it from my guide while Oahu Nature Tours.

Giant plant in Hawaii

I went to Hawaii last week. I joined a nature tour exploring forest close to Waikiki. On the way, I saw this giant fern, as you can see at the center of this picture. I had seen small fern ever, but I had never seen such a big fern. Here in Japan, we eat small fern but I think the one in this picture is too big to eat...