Yuumoushin.com (勇猛心)

Imagine flying from NY to Tokyo in an hour. Sounds like that’s the next big thing in aviation. With recent independent space successes, and more and more millionaires jumping at the chance to travel into space, what’s to say we won’t do this within the next ten years? Take Boeing’s “Dreamliner.” They have the technology to make it go faster, but having an airliner that’s too fast could ultimately cause problems (given the current infrastructure’s inability to handle the increase in speed). The only solution to this would be change all of the planes at the same time, but who’s going to front that kind of dough? Thus Boeing’s push into increased aerodynamics, better fuel management, and increased fuel efficiency.

Personally, I’ve always liked the idea of getting to my destination faster. The current jumbo airliners are far too big, and I’ve had to wait long enough to get on and off. Imagine having nearly twice as many people to load and unload. Anyway, the idea that I can zoom to Tokyo for breakfast with a buddy, and then be back in time for dinner at home in the U.S., well damn, that’s pretty appealing. What do you think – truly possible or just another pipe dream?

Surprise surprise, more development over in Dubai. I’m all about inspiration when it comes to building designs, but come on, isn’t this perhaps taking it a bit too far? The concept is cool, in that I like the look, technological features and amenities, but to go as far to call it “iPad?”

The tower will sit atop a docking station angled at six degrees to give the exact look.

What’s next, a building complex somehow named after the Zune?

The newest Transformers movie trailer looks pretty tight. I grew up watching that show…loved the original cartoon movie that came out and even own the sound track. I just hope the movie portrays the transformers as what they are, alien life forms. The preview has a bit of that “robots from outer space here to attack Earth and eat all of the humans” feel to it, but hopefully that won’t be the case. The new Fantastic Four trailer looks tight as well.

Probably not that interesting to the majority of you (what, the five people who actually read this blog), but it’s something I’ve followed for quite some time.

I recently read in a news article that Japan’s launching a satellite to advance mobile phone reception – the goal being to increase coverage for more mountainous areas, as well as increase coverage over the water. Cell phone reception in Japan is already amazing (especially when compared to my current coverage here in the U.S.). 6 years ago, when I summited Mt. Fuji, I had 3 reception bars and was able to call some friends (and no, this was not with a special phone…just my regular “keitai” at the time).

Japan is set to launch one of the world’s largest geostationary satellites in a bid to improve mobile telephone reception in remote areas, the country’s space agency said.

“This function is expected to be very useful in our daily lives, for example in some mountainous areas and at sea where no ground stations are available,” the statement said.

My point, however, is that I see this more as a subtle step into their ever developing space program (gee, wonder if they’re feeling pressure from their Asian neighbor). Over the past decade, Japan has made several attempts to build an independent space exploration set-up (as of right now, they’re venturing into space via NASA, with several Japanese astronauts being a part of the U.S. backed crews). They’ve gradually stepped up activity.

Japan hopes to send an astronaut to the moon by around 2020 and construct a manned lunar base by 2030.

Who knows, with the robotics they’ve been able to put together, it might just be a feasible goal. Then again, is there a need for something like this? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for them to focus their efforts and technology into something else? I’d say it’s more of a race with their Chinese counterparts, who are (conveniently enough) also trying to get a lunar base station set up within the next 20 years. Check back in the year 2020 for an update!

My boy Lull has started up a blog (he has some funny YouTube stuff as well, so check it out if you can – I recommend “racist thoughts”) and his last two posts are pretty interesting. He’s focused a lot lately on the direction of mainstream music, with regard to Hip Hop in particular.

This change in consumption has caused a change in the type of music that an artist puts out. We get bored with a song now within days so you as an artist need a song that really gives us something to get excited about. A tight beat is now the key to a Rapper or Singer getting people to listen to their song.

What do you think? I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing that people are pickier. A more knowledgeable consumer is a good thing, and in some cases it holds artists accountable. Also, thanks to the Internet, artists who didn’t have the financial capital (or backing) before are now able to get their stuff out there. In a way, it’s levels the playing field.

But he does make his point – it’s still not a “backpacker’s world.” Mainstream artists also have contract obligations – it feels a lot like Hollywood: multilevel deals, and usually with some sort of contract stipulation that says the artist has to produce so much “product” over the course of the contract’s life. How do you gauge “art” like that?