Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

  Trains are an amazing technology. China just tested a train that broke the 300mph barrier. Pictured below is the new train that is said to go up to 310 mph. Earlier this year, a bullet train accident occurred killing 40 and injuring 200. It’s definitely no surprise that big train crash in China earlier this year gets blamed on mostly a jailed guy and a dead guy. There was a lightning strike supposedly that caused problems, but why the quick cover up? The clean up happened near instantly and it has taken nearly a year to get word out as to who to blame. Truly, it’s of no consequence as who get the blame, but in the end, an accident like this happens as it does everywhere else. It’s just minimizing them. (Atlantic – China Train)  
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The dream is to connect China, and to do it quick is important, yet why is it that a crash happened so fast? The bullet trains of China are infamous, but so is the big July wreck. It happened during a lightning storm, but really what happened? The word isn’t out. They say human error, but at the same time, this WSJ report mentions that the technology is so new, that the foreign components and pieces aren’t all understood. “…that local engineers couldn’t fully understand…” This is a good look into the system and technology. (WSJ – China Trains)
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Super Cool “Daylight Savings” in Tokyo “Under Japan’s corporate culture many workers feel obligated to work until it is dark outside—no matter what their starting time.” Last week we reported on the Japanese government’s “Super Cool Biz” business clothing campaign, which encourages office workers to dress in cooler business attire for summer instead of the traditional heavy suits and skirts which have become the symbols of salarypeople in Japan. This week, Tokyo’s city government is taking things a step further by establishing summer hours, under which some employees report for work an hour earlier to take advantage of cooler morning working conditions, and to save costs related to air conditioning. And, of course, these workers get to leave an hour earlier, effectively creating a sort of daylight savings time without actually changing the clocks. But establishing actual American-style daylight savings time is also under consideration, much as the Japanese have traditionally very much disliked the idea. (National Public Radio – Japan’s “Daylight Savings”) The Guardian UK report has some extra details on summer hours in Japan: 10,000 on Tokyo Summer Hours. Australians Consider Japanese Quiet on Trains “Vomiting salarymen on late night trains aside, Tokyo journeys are largely a silent experience.” Have you ever made or received a cell phone call while on a train in Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya? Bad foreigner, bad. In Japan this is considered bad etiquette, taboo even. It violates an unwritten Japanese social contract. Well, in some states and cities in Australia, government officials would like to write that Japanese contract down in ink. In Queensland, for example, there are already cell phone quiet zones at the front and the back of all trains. Officials in Sydney and in New South Wales are mulling over a similar implementation. Although there currently are no plans to impose fines for quiet zone violations, the zones on trains would ban not only cell phone conversations, but also playing music and interpersonal conversations above a certain acceptable volume. It seems like a very considerate and civilized move in a country known for boisterous and larger-than-life behavior. (CNNGo – Australian Quiet Zones)
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Takashi Miike to Direct Film Based on Nintendo DS game – Phoenix Wright Miike’s next film following his 13 Assassins and Ninja Kids… This man keeps busy, and it’s striking that anyone will make a film based on a DS game. That’s how strong DS is in Japan. “In a typical “Ace Attorney” game, you’d hunt for clues in various locations and talk to persons of interest who might info on a case. Then, like a “Law & Order” episode, the action shifts to a courtroom where you put witnesses on the stand and whip out evidence that shatters their alibis.” (IFC - Miike Phoenix Wright) After the Quake: Sake Returns! Takahiro Hirai says, “I thought the fermentation had gone too far and we’d have to discard everything. I had almost lost hope,” he says. “But it turned out to be full of life, with an excellent strong, thick flavor, although very different from our usual style.” It turns out that although the many sake houses damaged from the quake are re-finding their stride. The rice used isn’t from the quake zone, but are from Western Japan. Perhaps there’s a few relaxing times ahead. (Time – Sake is back) China slows down Rail Expansion The story might not be that exciting, sans this one passage: “A corruption scandal ousted China’s speed-loving railway minister Liu Zhijun, amid reports he kept multiple mistresses nationwide, and concerns over safety and cost persuaded his replacement to lower top operating speeds from 217 to 186 mph.” Guess what he wanted the high speed railways for? (USA Today – Bootie Train) 40 Ways The Chinese Economy Is Beating The Living Daylights Out Of The US There’s probably more than 40, but this scroll through list is a good quick way to catch up on how strong China is at the moment. “Since 2005, the U.S. has spent $1.1 trillion in Chinese products and services, but China has only spent $272 billion on American goods and services” (Business Insider – 40 Ways China Leads) Old School Asian American Actor – James Hong “You know the face. but you may not know that actor James Hong, who voices Panda’s papa, grew up in Minneapolis “They couldn’t find a role for me in high school because they said they didn’t know what to do with a yellow face. And even at the U of M, they’d say, ‘What would we do with a Chinese man in our plays?’ ” James Hong is one of those actors who has contributed to the growth of Asian Americans in Hollywood, but in the end, he gets just a pat on the back, if even that. (Twincities – James Hong)
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