Friday, March 28, 2008

Two Tough questions

Two Tough questions.

===Question 1===

If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.


===Question 2===

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.
Here are the facts about the three candidates.

Candidate A: Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologers. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B: He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C: He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?


Let's give a shot and try deciding first.

Hope there is no peeking.

Now if you have decided on your answers, scroll down for the response.

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Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Candidate B is Winston Churchill.

Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.


And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:

If you said YES . . .

. . . you just killed Beethoven while he was still in his mother's womb.

Pretty interesting isn't it?


Thursday, March 27, 2008

The Bloom of Cherry Blossoms

The Bloom of Cherry Blossoms
The cherry blossoms usually bloom for only about a week after full-bloom. The small, round shape flowers flutter to the ground gracefully and the blossoms are said to be the most beautiful at their final stage. For many Japanese people, the blooming of the cherry trees symbolize human life, transience and nobleness. They celebrate and cherish their beauty while it lasts.

Fixed observation Points in Tokyo

Click to enlarge the picture.
20080327
27 Mar. 2008
Southern Moat of the Imperial Palace
20080327
27 Mar. 2008
Southern Moat of the Imperial Palace
20080327
27 Mar. 2008
Southern Moat of the Imperial Palace
20080327
27 Mar. 2008
Southern Moat of the Imperial Palace


Sunday, March 23, 2008

Kamichu - ANN Summary

Alternative title:
Kamichu! ~ Kamisama de Chuugakusei (Japanese)
Teenage Goddess
The Goddess is a Middle School Student
かみちゅ! (Japanese)
神様で中学生 (Japanese)
Genres: comedy, drama, magic, romance, slice of life, supernatural
Themes: gods, moe, school
Age rating: Older Children (May contain mild bad language, bloodless violence)
Plot Summary: Yurie Hitotsubashi was just an average middle school student living in the city of Onomichi on Japan's inland sea in the easygoing times of the 1980s. She spent her days worrying about exams and trying to get Kenji, the clueless boy she likes, to notice her. Then during lunch one day she suddenly announces to her friend Mitsue that the night before she had become a goddess. Their classmate Matsuri quickly latches on to Yurie’s newfound divinity as a way to promote her family’s bankrupt Shinto shrine. She hopes that replacing their hapless local god, Yashima-sama, with Yurie will make the shrine more popular (and profitable). Now, with Matsuri as her manager, Yurie has to grant wishes, cure curses, meet aliens, and attend god conventions. All the while attending school and working-up the courage to confess to Kenji.
User Ratings: 427 ratings have been given [details]
Masterpiece: 62 votes (sub:44, dub:14, ?:2, raw:1, Ita.sub:1, Spa.sub:0)
Excellent: 152 votes (sub:118, dub:28, Spa.sub:2, raw:2, Ger.sub:1, Fre.sub:1)
Very good: 100 votes (sub:83, dub:14, raw:3)
Good: 61 votes (sub:47, dub:11, raw:2, Fre.sub:1)
Decent: 33 votes (sub:31, dub:2)
So-so: 11 votes (sub:9, raw:1, dub:1)
Not really good: 3 votes (sub:2, Spa.sub:1)
Weak: 3 votes (sub:3)
Bad: 2 votes (sub:2)
Awful: -
Worst ever: -
Seen in part or in whole by 878 users, rank: #466
Median rating: Very good
Arithmetic mean: 8.2019 (Very good+.20), std. dev.: 1.4365, rank: #278
Weighted mean: 8.0965 (Very good+.09), rank: #241
Bayesian estimate: 8.08654 (Very good+.08), rank: #148
Running time: half hour
Number of episodes: 16
Episode titles: We have 16
Vintage:
2005-06-28 to 2005-09-27 (Japan - TV Asahi)
2007-07-31 to 2007-11-13 (USA - ImaginAsian TV)
Opening Theme:
"Hare nochi HARE [Fine Weather Followed by Fine Weather]" by Maho Tomita
Ending Theme:
"Ice Candy" by MAKO
Links: We have 3
Trivia: We have 5
In the news 3 times:
Comment:
Of the 16 total episodes only 12 were originally broadcasted. Episodes 8, 11, 13, and 16 were not included in the original Japanese TV broadcasts, but were first released on the Japan DVD release. Also, some additional material was added to the broadcast episodes for the DVD release, increasing the length from 23 to 28 minutes per episode.

D-BOYS starring in "Shakariki!" movie adaptation

"Shakariki!," the first manga series by artist Masahito Soda, is being adapted as a live-action film, starring members of the acting group D-BOYS. Serialized in Shonen Champion from 1992 to 1995, the comic focused on high schoolers involved in the sport of bicycle racing.

D-BOYS leader Yuya Endo stars as Teru, who is trying to revive his school's defunct bicycle club. Yuichi Nakamura ("Kamen Rider Den-O") plays the talented Poppo, and Hiroki Suzuki ("Juken Sentai Gekiranger") plays Yuta, a racer from a rival school. The three actors began practicing in December, and last week they underwent more intensive training that included cycling for 60km every day.

The rest of the cast includes Noriko Nakagoshi as Teru's sister Sayuri, Miho Nakai as one of the team's mothers, Akira Emoto as the school principal, Yoichi Nukumizu as vice principal, and Taizo Harada as the team's coach.

This is the first feature-length film helmed by Shinsuke Ono, who has worked as an assistant director on movies such as Takeshi Kitano's "Kids Return." Shooting begins on Thursday and is expected to take until the end of April. Showgate will distribute the movie in September.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Japan appoints its first cartoon ambassador

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

TOKYO: Japan has created an unusual government post to promote animation, and named a perfect figure Wednesday to the position: Doraemon.

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura appointed the popular cartoon robot cat as "anime ambassador," handing a human-sized Doraemon doll an official certificate at an inauguration ceremony, along with dozens of "dorayaki" red bean pancakes — his favorite dessert — piled on a huge plate.

Komura told the doll, with an unidentified person inside, that he hoped he would widely promote Japanese animated cartoons, or "anime."

"Doraemon, I hope you will travel around the world as an anime ambassador to deepen people's understanding of Japan so they will become friends with Japan," Komura told the blue-and-white cat.

The appointment is part of Japan's recent effort to harness the power of pop culture in diplomacy. Japan also created an International Manga Award last year under comic enthusiast former Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who likened it to a "Nobel Prize" for an artist working abroad.

Manga, the name used for Japanese-syle comic books, often combine complex stories with drawing styles that differ from their overseas superhero counterparts, particularly in their emphasis on cuteness.

This year, the ministry plans to arrange showings of a Doraemon film in Singapore, China, Spain, France, and at other Japanese diplomatic missions around the world.

Doraemon — through voice actress Wasabi Mizuta, who spoke from behind a sliding paper screen — promised Komura that "Through my cartoons, I hope to convey to people abroad what ordinary Japanese people think, our lifestyles and what kind of future we want to build."

Created by cartoonist Fujiko F. Fujio, Doraemon is a Japanese cultural icon and is popular around the world, especially in Asia. The robotic cat travels back in time from the 22nd century and uses gadgets such as a "time machine" and an "anywhere door" that come out of a fourth-dimensional pocket on his stomach to help his friends, allowing them to travel anywhere and to any time they wish.

Astro Boy, another cartoon icon, was named last November as ambassador for overseas safety.

Sakura Paradise - a blog post


Sakura in Japanese language means cherry blossom, that sympolizes for the beauty of the soul. If someone give you this flower, that means your soul is very pure,beautiful and gentle.Sakura is also the name of a lovely girl,the main character in the famous manga " Card captor Sakura" that we love very much. The friendship between the girl and other characters is very good and we hope everyone who comes to this blog will be our good friend too. We welcome all of your comments to make this blog become a sakura paradise- the place gathering many good things and many lovely friends.

Source
sakuraparadise.blogspot.com

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Is Moore’s Law Relevant, Anymore?

But is Moore’s Law Relevant, Anymore?


Moore’s Law has put the chip manufacturers on an aggressive road map. Applications aren’t demanding powerful processors anymore; it seems to be the other way round. Companies are foreseeing applications for the processors that are yet to be released. Over the years, while the transistors in a chip seem to be increasing exponentially, the end-user experience doesn’t seem to be reflecting that trend. Without a doubt, there is a need for more powerful processors and companies do have to keep developing them, but we have reached a stage where there is no need for such high acceleration to move forward. “There is very little in terms of mainstream software that is coming out anytime soon that needs more performance on the desktop,” said Mark Margevicius, Research Director at Gartner Inc.

While many wouldn’t agree with him, they would agree that there is a sizeable population using their PC only for light work such as word processing, browsing, etc. Is anything being made to improve their experience?

Using multiple processors instead of one powerful processor is another direction to go. Google, for example, has one of the largest processor farms. When the 130W consuming Itanium was released, Google refused to buy any of it, citing its power consumption. Many of the systems used by Google are Celeron-based. Maybe it’s time to have a second look at Moore’s Law, maybe not!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Itsukushima Shrine


Itsukushima Shrine

There is an ancient belief that every part of the island of Itsukushima is so sacred that even the hills and surrounding waters are gods. Inspired by this most unusual belief, a deeply religious 12th century military commander named Taira no Kiyomori had this shrine complex constructed as an integral part of the natural environment. When the tide is high, the main sanctuary and other structures appear to be floating. The shaden sanctuary's stage is used for events such as dream-like takigi Noh performances illuminated at night by burning wood. The shrine was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 1996. The island is within the district of Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture.

(Photos: Watanabe Manabu)