Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Your house is gone, you’re living in a shelter, and you don’t have a firm idea of when you’ll be able have a home of your own again. This is the situation thousands of survivors of Japan’s March 11th disaster still face. And at times like these, the softness, warmth and unconditional love of a pet is often the perfect therapy. Well thanks to a robotic baby seal named Paro, numerous earthquake and tsunami survivors have been getting the chance to know the affection and attention of a cuddly, fuzzy animal just when they need it the most. Paro is an untethered robot equipped with sensors and artificial intelligence which makes him (her?) responsive to human touch. The little robo-seal was introduced in Japan seven years ago to give elderly folks who live where pets aren’t allowed the chance to benefit from the soothing, therapeutic effects which human-animal contact very often provides. At the link, you’ll see video of March 11th survivors interacting with Paro, and find yourself smiling and maybe even tearing up a little. (BBC Asia-Pacific – Baby Robot Seal Gives Comfort) For further reading, you can go here to learn how Paro has been used in a Connecticut mental-health residence to treat people with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
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That’s me hitting the stage for my 2 minutes of Pecha Kucha in the first photo below. I was following soon after the creator of the entire event Hitoshi Abe, so that added a tiny layer of pressure. There was a healthy audience at the JACCC plaza again (Let’s do more events at the other location next time, ok?). Hundreds sitting and standing everywhere. I felt some nerves in my hand as I stood there and spoke. While I was getting going, I eased the nerves in my hand while not missing a beat. That never happens, I wonder why it did that night.
This is sad. She was walking around to promote this event. 28… she told me they can’t find some of her cousins to this date. She also said that Sendai gets no aid at all. hopeforsendai.com
Reading a report that states beef “may” have been consumed it ridiculous. Is it really safe to be eating radioactive beef from cows who ate radioactive feed and hay? Reading this makes me think that just about every wrong decision is being made, but then again, that’s what we get in the news. It does make for great headlines, but at the same time, why are cows 18 miles away from a meltdown being farmed? Why aren’t they being checked more regularly? “Goshi Hosono, state minister in charge of consumer affairs and food-safety, said he hoped to head off any overreactions. “If we were to eat the meat everyday, then it would probably be dangerous,” Hosono said at a news conference Tuesday. “But if it is consumed only in small portions, I don’t think it would have any long-lasting effects on the human body.” “… I don’t think”?! C’mon! (CNN – Cows)
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If you’re one of the first 500 to raise $500 in donations, you’ll be invited to see them play in a small intimate venue in LA. Japanese group B’z will open up. It looks like a quick race to the finish line and one person already have $7000 donated. This seems like an easy idea, you’d figure every big band could pull this off to get huge donations. Imagine U2 – but instead make it 1000 people who need to raise 1000 dollars for 1M and do it in every “big” city? (Music for Relief – Linkin Park Secret Show) That’s Mike Shinoda crowd surfing for a previous show. Now he’ll be crowd sourcing for donating.
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This freaks us out and the photo does as well. A cast of elder ex engineers and more are interested in helping out the Fukushima plant in Japan. Yes, they’re older and a dose of radiation might not hurt their chances of having more “normal” kids, yet, this is what it’s coming to. Amidst the slowly lessening news of the leaking reactors, yes, there’s new news of that today, and the general cleanup images, the problem persists enough for things to come to retirees feeling the need to help. (NY Times – Elders offer help at Fukushima)
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