DS beauty tips/bacteria buzz/church vs. PS3

My article on a new Konami game for the Nintendo DS that gives beauty tips has this blogger response. But I do have to ask: Isn’t the idea behind the game a trifle too sexist for people outside Japan? One of the recommended etiquette tips: Don’t put on makeup on the commuter train. That’s so Tokyo!
Net buzz about my bacteria story.
The scientists aren’t saying they can stop mutation. But they’ve figured out a way to put the message in four places in the bacteria to increase the chances it will survive intact.
An interesting news story this past week is the controversy over a PS3 game called “Resistance: Fall of Man.”
Some scenes take place in what looks like Manchester Cathedral, and cathedral officials say they didn’t grant permission and they’re complaining.
The Sony spokeswoman in Tokyo says the company is talking with cathedral officials.
Overnight in London, our reporter there talked with a cathedral official who denies Sony is talking to them at all.
There was no comment from Sony in that story about the denial although Sony has an office in Europe.
I contacted the spokesman there by email, and he confirms (once again) Sony is in talks with Manchester Cathedral officials.
But there will be no further public comment, he says.
Is a bloody shooting in a cathedral different from other similar violent scenes involving landmark buildings like King Kong and the Empire State Building/Godzilla and the Tokyo Tower?
And aren’t such virtual bloodbath games offensive to some people, regardless of where they take place?
This is from some time back but someone found my cultural take on the difference between MySpace and mixi interesting.
And finally:
A great place to keep track of my stories complete with color photos!

Buzz on bacteria story

Some buzz is abuzz on my story about using bacteria as a storage medium on this fascinating exchange among people who are into what’s called ID for “intelligent design,” and argue living things were designed by a higher intelligence.
They oppose a materialistic approach to science, and are saying, “No,” to Darwin.
If Man can encode bacteria, then who encoded bacteria in the first place?
… Datte!

Paper-like Display

My story about Sony’s thin display that bends like a piece of paper.
Some technological breakthroughs are more than just a gee-whiz.
If prices are the same, then the switch to ever thinner displays is the way to go.
Another link to my story.
This story shows how business/technology stories often make for the biggest news out of Japan.
I already said this, but we must be vigilant about what Sony (and other Japanese companies) are up to.

Sony proves important, professor reads bacteria

My story on Sony was the most e-mailed technology story on Yahoo! the other day. It was the only Japan news on the Top 10 List (including general news).
It goes to show how crucial it is for us to intelligently pick what intrigues ordinary people (not just investors).
There’s more to a story than what drives stock prices.
I also did a story about research on storing information on bacteria.
Hard drives, memory cards and paper get lost/destroyed. But bacteria will be around millions of years from now.
The professor was telling me all this with a straight face, sitting in a cottage-like office on a campus filled with trees and tranquility on the outskirts of Tokyo.
But I had to burst out laughing.
I asked him if it bothered him most people would find this odd, if not outright amusing, maybe ridiculous.
That doesn’t phase him at all.
Science is like art _ meant to entertain and fill people with the dream for eternity.
It’s someone else’s problem to figure out practical applications or implications of Pure Science.
At least he had an answer. But maybe that’s why I’m a reporter, not a scientist.

Chips EveryWARE

Adam Greenfield, who has written “Everyware, the Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing,” had some harsh words on his blog for my Chips Everywhere article. But there’s always a happy ending to Yuri’s endeavors: He is willing to be that expert who will be interviewed for comment for my next technology story!

Chips everywhere

It’s still a test, but computer chips stuck in buildings and corner posts in Tokyo’s Ginza won’t stop talking to you, as evident in my participation in a recent demonstration. The chips are an upgrade of the more common RFID chips in widespread use, which are more like barcodes to identify products. The chips from Professor Sakamura of TRON fame relay information that can be updated on servers. He denies they will be used for “Big Brother” monitoring of human individuals. But that would seem one obvious potential use. Another link to my story.

Robot serves tea

Of all the things you can make a robot do, University of Tokyo is having it serve tea . Professor Tomomasa Sato is serious this is an important chore for robots as companions and caretakers. He says he doesn’t like to ask a student or his wife to serve tea. He feels guilty. He acknowledges human beings are still going to do the most important caretaking, family interaction and yes, tea serving. But sometimes it’s asking too much of a person. Another place to read my story and watch video.
Also here.