Regardless all of the brouhaha, my only concern (actually, pet peeve) is the website for the slogan: http://itsmorefuninthephilippines.com/

Check it out and you’ll realize that there’s nothing in there but a couple of photos and a contact form. It seems that the website had been launched prematurely. Doing so makes me think that DOT is not yet ready with their campaign slogan, that this whole project is actually half-baked.

I had a similar experience with another website run by a start-up company. I was eager to do business with them but their half-finished website made me think twice.

If a website is the face of the company to the outside world, and especially if it is the primary point of contact between the company and its customers, then what does it say about the company and it’s products when it’s unfinished and unpolished? Would you do business with them? I won’t.

DOT better do their best with updating their campaign website.

Stroke rehabilitation is one of the fields that I think could benefit a lot from automation, whether from patient data management all the way to actual rehabilitation. Of course, the key here is not to replace humans, but to augment their capability in carrying out their job so more patients could benefit in a much better way. As what Dr. Chan (head of TTSH Rehab Medicine) said, technology becomes the multiplying factor.

The low quality of Japan’s higher education system is inextricably tied up with the country’s job-hunting system. When job-hunting activities start in the second-semester of their third year, absences become common. However, this is of little consequence to employers, which have absolutely no interest in grades (companies do not ask to see academic transcripts during the hiring process). In fact, employers hire graduates not on the basis of academic performance but largely on the reputation of their university. Thus, Japanese university life is frequently characterized as “leisure land,” a four-year moratorium of rest and relaxation between “examination hell” and entry into society. In other words, Japanese students are, in general, not motivated for the simple reason that there is absolutely no need for them to study: A straight-A student who graduates in four years has little or no advantage over the student who scrapes through in five or six.

The underlying issue has more to do with the consequence of job-hunting, and thus, education reform must take it into account to be able to be successful. After all, modern day educational system is still primary geared toward providing workers to the economic system.

Read more: Students choose failure over uncertainty (Japan Times (online), 19 April 2011)

A set of this Emotiv device costs USD300. Here is the website if you want to purchase one: http://www.emotiv.com/

Here is a list of ten command lines that are very useful (compiled from Lifehacker):

1. history
2. rsync
3. find
4. wget
5. top
6. man
7. grep
8. mkdir
9. sudo !!
10. prompt customization

I wonder about its accuracy in reconstructing the objects. I better search for the paper (and download the software if it’s available).

Here is a video of Marcin explaining what he does:

The repository of the global construction set is here: http://opensourceecology.org/

Language is not a problem in Germany as people speak English as well. Of course, to get the most of your stay, learning German is the best way to go.

OVERSEAS-STUDENT FRIENDLY COUNTRIES

• 1. Germany
• 2. Australia
• 3. UK
• 4. China
• 5. Malaysia
• 6. US
• 7. Japan
• 8. Russia
• 9. Nigeria
• 10. Brazil
• 11. India

In the list, I’m aware that Malaysia is a popular destination for students from the middle east, especially Muslims. I’m thinking that Brazil and Nigeria are destinations for students from Central America and Africa, respectively.

Despite the language and cultural barriers (for some people this is precisely the reason why they come), I believe that Japan is an excellent destination for grad studies: most labs do cutting-edge research, funding sources are abundant, and scholarships are readily available to interested students.

So far, only British and American robots are in action. Companies such as Qinetiq (UK) and iRobot (US) have been flexing their robot’s muscles on the scene. Here are some photos of the robots currently deployed in Fukushima (taken from BBC <link here>):

Societies like the Robotics Society of Japan (RSJ) has initiated discussions with TEPCO on how to use robots in the site. An article in Japan Times (Japanese Robots Await Call to Action, 23-Apr-2011) said that so far, only Tmsuk‘s Enryu robot is waiting for deployment.

Premature cancellation of developments of rescue robots have been a problem:

The central government initially contributed ¥3 billion in subsidies for the robot project but its funding did not last long and the development process was halted before any units were perfected for actual use.

An official of the Manufacturing Science and Technology Center, which was in charge of the development at that time, said, “There was a strong sense among us that those types of robot would never have a real-life chance to flex their muscles.”

Some prototype robots developed in the process have been put on display at Sendai Science Museum. A museum employee said of the halted development initiative, “It was like stopping premium payments for a nonrefundable insurance policy.”

Kinect has made The Minority Report type of interaction possible without the use of gloves or other cumbersome equipment. Of course, accuracy may be a problem, but this is a very good start.