Technology+Culture+People // テクノロジーとか、人とか、文化とか。

»English Article (via: Global Post) || 日本語の記事（via: TBS News i)

There recently was an international paper airplane contest hosted by the Japan Airplane Origami Association in Chiba, Japan. One of the qualified representatives of the Thai team, 12 year old Mong Thongdee, however, had faced major problems in his “home” country prior to the competition.

But Mong, born to Burmese construction workers in the Thai city of Chiang Mai, is essentially a citizen of nowhere. Thai law insists that, by parentage, Mong belongs to Burma — a neighboring country that does not even recognize his birth. Though Mong calls Thailand home, he’s always been a “temporary resident” at risk of deportation.

For stateless kids like Mong, a passport — much less citizenship — is largely out of the question. Only through talent, tears and the prime minister’s intervention has he secured temporary papers allowing a one-time-only trip to Japan.

…As the contest’s registration deadline drew close last week, Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva decided to intervene. Mong’s next major TV appearance was taped inside parliament. There, the premier and the 12-year-old — a visitor’s pass clipped to his pastel blue school uniform — played with paper planes in front of cameras.

So the contest happened today, and Mong’s team had swept the first place by recording the longest flight duration. I have very high respect for the Thai prime minister who decided to protect a child’s dream and aspiration, and even a higher respect for Mong who succeeded in following through his promise with the Thai prime minister.

“I’ve been making my muscles strong,” Mong said. “The prime minister told me to bring that championship back to Thailand and ‘fight, fight!’”

Unfortunately, Mong is not the only child who does not have a passport or a citizenship from country that they consider “home.” I hope this will cause the Thai government to make a stronger intervention in helping all of the children to live their lives fully, and to pursue their dreams.

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両親がミャンマーからの難民のため無国籍扱いになっているタイの少年が、タイ政府の特別な許可を得て日本を訪れ、千葉市で開かれた「折り紙ヒコーキ大会」の団体戦で見事優勝しました。

紙ヒコーキを飛ばしてその滞空時間を競う全日本大会に参加したのは、タイから来たモン・トンジー君（１２）です。

去年、タイの大会で優勝して日本に招待されましたが、モン君は両親がミャンマーからの難民で無国籍扱いのため、日本に来ることができませんでした。しかし、地元の盛り上がりを受けたタイ政府は、特例でモン君に臨時パスポートを発券したのです。

モン君、本当におめでとう！一人の子供の夢を守ったタイの首相も凄いなー。こういう事の「積み重ね」が、国の将来を豊かにしていくと思う。タイにはモン君と同じ境遇の子供がまだたくさん居る。タイ政府は、これをきっかけに、恵まれない境遇におかれるの全ての子供達に手を差し伸べるよう尽くしてほしいな。

»English Article

According to a recent survey by the Country Music Association, only 50% of the 7,500 people polled had home access to the internet… In addition to lack of broadband, those surveyed cited cost and concerns over content as reasons they stayed offline. Perhaps more disturbing to the country music industry is the news that 42 percent of those ardent fans who do not have home Internet access have no desire to remedy the situation.

Kind of an interesting article from a marketing/sales perspective. I guess the rapid development of SEO, listing ads, and other online ad solutions don’t really work for these people. As for country music event sponsors or CD labels, perhaps they will be better off going back to using the traditional media for their advertising…

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カントリー音楽ファンの半分は自宅にネット回線を開通してんだって。マーケティング・PRの観点から考えると、ちょっと面白い現象だよね。SEOとかリスティングとかが盛んな昨今、時代を逆走するターゲット。ネットなんか最初から使わないで、トラディショナルメディアに立ち返る方が、広告を打つには遥かに効果的かもね。

Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live-Blogging The Uprising

This is an article by the Huffington Post, and all online news source. There is also a Twitter network of journalists who are in Iran reporting the situation. This is a truly fascinating attempt, and start of a new era of journalism. Information arrives in almost realtime, the facts are reinforcing of the urgent situation, and such information can no longer be suppressed by violence, canceling press pass of major news sources, and immobilizing journalists in hotels. What’s even more fascinating is that the Iranian security forces are trying to crackdown on the internet access of active journalists, but new proxy servers are being continuously provided from elsewhere; the boarder-less and cloud-sourcing nature of the Internet is overwhelming the attempt to censor information.

I guess the next question is, how can we let more people be aware of this? I’ve seen numerous blog articles and notes written on facebook and other SNS, but thats probably not enough; at least to what I’m aware of, my parents, sister, friends do not know about this live blogging deal. Should CNN and BBC start live blogging and tweeting too? And the question following that is “how much control journalists truly have in changing the situation?” At some point action these people must stop protesting, authorities must stop relying on violence, and Iran has to change. And they all have to happen very soon.

Joy of mother who discovered her ‘kidnapped’ son after 27 years… by Googling his name and finding his Facebook page

A mother has been reunited with her son 27 years after he was ‘kidnapped’ by his Hungarian father – when her sister stumbled across his Facebook profile after Googling his name.

Nice.

People + Technology = happy.

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Facebookで、幼い頃に離ればなれになった親子が再会。いいねー。人とテクノロジーが交わる所に幸せがあると、なんだか分からないけどテンションがあがる。

母親がイギリス人で、息子は幼いときにハンガリー人の父親に半誘拐状態で引き取られちゃったらしい。２７年ぶりの再会で、息子は英語が喋れないらしいけど、まーそんなの今までの離ればなれに比べたら屁でもないよね。

Same-sex marriage bill passes New Hampshire Senate

On Wednesday, the Senate voted 13-11 in favor of the bill, which differs from the House-approved version in that it distinguishes between civil and religious marriage. It allows each religion to decide whether to acknowledge same-sex marriage but extends the option of civil marriage to any two individuals, … “To achieve further real progress,” he added, “the federal government would need to take action to recognize New Hampshire civil unions.”

Congratulations, and good luck with the remaining half of the endeavor: becoming the 5th state allowing same-sex marriage.

There has been several issues regarding this bill, and similar bills in other states, of whether or not to protect the religious freedom of persons and institutions to refuse ceremonial marriage of same-sex couples. Personally I think it is fine to allow people and institutions to refuse a request that they do not believe in, simply because it is a matter of belief. Just like how one believes that same-sex marriage should be legalized, there are others who believe that it should not. I believe a law is there to protect the rights and freedom of one to pursue its happiness with equal integrity as their neighbors, regardless of backgrounds and beliefs. This law provided same-sex couples with rights that they have long deserved and yearned for, however I also do not think it should force certain people to do what they do not believe in.

It’s all about mutual understanding, peace, and harmony.

The Prisoner Blog (Japanese) ||  News Article (English)

This blog is currently causing a small issue in Japan.

» B A C K G O U N D

The entries are written by a Testuo Odajima who murdered four people in 2002. After several trials he was condemned death penalty three years ago, the same year that this blog started. The blog entries are excepts from Odajima’s diary, which are sent to, uploaded, and managed by Mitsunori Saito, a non-fiction writer. Saito, after receiving the diaries from Odajima, choose portions that seem relevant and uploads them online. Saito approached Odajima after his arrest to ask him to send diaries and letters so that those could later be compiled and published.  Odajima, in exchange for the letters, receives 20,000 Yen (about $200) each month as a “prepayment of publish royalty fee.” Odajima sends majority of the money to his wife and sons in the Philippines. Just to add on to this, there is no law in Japan that regulates the actions of the receiver of letters written by a prisoner.

» I S S U E

The core of the controversy resides in the fact that a prisoner who was condemned capital punishment is given a “voice” through a blog. In Japan majority of the public still supports death penalty, mainly because we Japanese have a victim-oriented perspective in viewing criminal cases (read this PDF document if you are interested in the cultural background). Seeing the comments on this blog, there are many people who consider murders as those who do not deserve the basic human rights;  who deserve to have their lives taken for the lives that they took (I do not completely agree with this).

Another issue is tied with the implementation of the “System of Lay Judges,” similar to the Jury System in the US, starting this year. Some specialists concern that these blogs could affect the Lay Judges’ preconception of murders in general, and therefore skewing their judgment.

» M Y  R E A C T I O N

I was very surprised, and perhaps glad to see this blog gathering the public attention mainly because of three reasons. First, it simply stirs discussion. Majority of the blog entries are consisted of diaries of Odajima, who seems to live and think “normally” just like any one of us. I think this has especially impacted the Japanese public. Some people reacted with anger, scolding Odajima for living normally “as though nothing had happened,” and others mentioned that criminals too are human beings who deserve to fulfill the remainder of their lives with serenity. Second, Odajima serves as a good example of a criminal that does not fit the stereotype of a mass murderer. Many of his entries are in fact written in a very solemn tone, and once in a while he metions his concerns about  his wife and two sons. Here again, the readers see that Odajima may not be so different from them. Through blogs, a media that is very public and closely distanced to the users, Odajima provides an opportunity for many of us to become freed from stereotypes and preconceptions of murderers who are, in many cases, underrepresented. We can see and discuss the issue in a new perspective. Third, through revealing the daily lives of Odajima, this blog gives context to what was only told through news paper and TV news. These media usually deliver the story from the consequence, which inevitably does not tell the whole story and therefore forces the viewers to form a skewed impression of the perpetrator. This blog seems like a wake-up call for those who justified capital punishment simply because of their preconceptions telling them that “all murders are evil.”

I am by no means justifying or defending the wrongdoings of a criminal or a murderer. To be honest, raised in a culture that has supported capital punishment for a long time, I am still mixed about my opinions regarding capital punishment. However, I still cannot deny the fact that prisoners who were condemned capital punishment too are humans, and that there is nothing gained by taking their lives.

To reach a better quality of decision making, we all have to free ourselves from stereotypes and preconceptions, rather than seeking avoidance to it.

ComScore: Facebook is conquering Europe

ComScore said Wednesday, the only countries where Facebook isn’t the No. 1 or No. 2 social network are Germany, where it ranks fourth; Russia, where it’s seventh; and Portugal, where it’s third. Facebook’s biggest stronghold in Europe is still the U.K., where it has 22.7 million active users, followed by France with 13.7 million.

Now that Europe has caught on with Facebook after translations have been available since last January, it’s now time for worldwide Facebook developers to start making cool tools and API’s. Recently, I was quite amazed and impressed by how convenient Facebook Connect was. This can be speed up and simplify any online registration process if applied correctly. Comcast Town, a project recently launched by Takayoshi Kishimoto and the creators from Unit9 uses Facebook also uses Facebook Connect. I love it when things become simpler.

日本語版記事 || English Article || Original Study

Before you read on, make sure you see  the YouTube video (I will not be writing about Schizophrenia in this post. Rather, I will focus on the illusion itself)

This is a very good video demonstrating an optical illusion called the “Hollow-mask Illusion.” I’m sure you noticed that when the mask of Charlie Chaplin revolved to reveal is opposite side, the concave surface (where your face fits the mask) appears as though it was a convex surface. Pretty cool.

The reason why this happens is pretty simple: since we do not usually see people having concave faces, our brain is accustomed to recognizing all “face-like objects” as having a convex surface. Since the opposite side of the mask has exactly the same features as the normal side, despite the color, our brain still recognizes it as a “face” and therefore our perception is tricked.

Our brain often makes these kinds of generalization, or stereotyping regarding objects that we come into contact with frequently. It’s a part of the process of “becoming familiar” with something. Our brain cannot afford to process every single object that we see as if we see them for the first time; it takes too much time and effort to perceive, recognize, and comprehend everything from head to tail. Hence we make a template, or a “scheme” to recognize and understand certain familiar objects.

My mind understands what’s going on in my brain, but my body still cannot resist the illusion.

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なんかココまで書いて、日本語訳を書くのがめんどくさくなっちゃったw

とりあえず記事の大事な部分を引用しますw

この錯視は、人間の脳が視覚世界を解釈する際の戦略によって起こる。それは、実際に目に見えるもの(ボトムアップ処理と呼ばれる情報処理法)と、過去の経験に基づいて見えると予想されるもの(トップダウン処理)を組み合わせて判断するという戦略だ。（中略）「脳内のモデルでは、すべて顔が凸面になっているため、どんな顔を見ても、当然凸面のはずだと考えてしまう」

頭では現象を理解していても、僕の体はまだ騙されてしまう。おもしれー

No Google Street View, Please –We’re British

some residents of the comfortable Buckinghamshire village of Broughton in Southeast Britain took umbrage at the Google Street View car tooling through their streets — and physically blocked the car to put a put an end to it. “Forming a human chain to stop it, they harangued the driver about the “invasion of privacy

Despite the “We’re British” part failing miserably at being funny, this is an interesting article. Many people has shown their frowns against Google Street View in the past, but an incident to this degree, as far as I know, has never happened before.

So the question is, how do you define “privacy” ?

I feel like the place to draw the line between private and public has become much more clear in the past decade or so. At least in Japan, the idea of “community” use to be much more stronger back in the days. In a collectivist society, each individual adopts the communal identity as a large part of their individual identity. Such societal values blur the border between what is public and private. However with a shift in the general mindset, from collectivism to individualism, the difference between private and public becomes much more clear: what is meant to be or what is already public is public, and all other things are personal.

For example, I personally do not think Google Street view is invading one’s privacy just by taking pictures of houses. The outside view of the house sits in the public, therefore its public. If one doesn’t like that, they simply should cover their home. I do not believe “but its gonna go online” is a valid argument, since the fact that the house may be viewed anonymously stays constant regardless of the existence of internet.

This issue, however, gains a bit more complexity when your curtains are wide open at the wrong time.

Say for example Google Street View drives across the street when you are trying to get some breeze through your house. In such circumstance, is your privacy still invaded? To be honest, I do not think so. I feel that the act that allows any form of privacy to be accessed by the public is in itself the act of abandoning such privacy. If you leave your door open, you are taking the risk of people entering your house. If you leave all of your furniture in the middle of a street, you are taking the risk of someone taking your furniture. If you leave your wallet in the middle of a shopping mall, you are taking the risk of somebody stealing your money. If you leave your window open, you are taking the risk of someone peaking in your house, or possibly Google Street View driving across your doorway.

At the end of the day, it comes down to how much each person gains/loses from Google Street View. I do not oppose against it because I think its useful, and it has not yet hurt me in any ways. But if, or example, I happen to be posing naked in front of my wide-open window when Google Street View drives by, I will simply email them and ask them to hide the necessary areas of my body.

I do not quite understand why the people of Buckinghamshire village made so big of a deal out of Google Street View. I guess the area being somewhat upperclass could have stirred safety concerns.. Either way, I still do not think those villagers being “British” is a good enough reason, neither do I think that pseudo-humor is funny.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090328-00000563-yom-soci

愛知県半田市の市立中学校で、１年生の男子生徒１１人が、担任で妊娠中の女性教諭を「流産させる会」をつくり、この女性教諭の給食に異物を混ぜるなど悪質な嫌がらせを繰り返していたことが２８日、わかった。

このニュースを目にしたとき、酷い不快感を覚えた。

悲しさや怒りを通り越して、恐怖と憎しみに似たものを感じた。

年齢が中学生だからだろうか。

もしこの騒動がどこかの会社で、

部下が上司に対してやっていた事だとしたら、僕はただあきれていただろう。

ただ、これからの日本を担っていく中学生がこういう騒動を起こした事に

僕は恐怖と憎しみを感じた。

イタズラとそうでないものの線引きは何処でするのだろうか。