I Art You

Konichiwa, I am sure you will not have too much trouble guessing the theme of this weeks tech travel round up. If you guessed Japan, congratulations, have a shot of sake cause this week the tech travel roundup is headed back to Japan. Perhaps and a obvious choice, its hard to talk about technology without Japan stealing the spot light, so without further ado we bring you new McDonald’s concepts and take you down the back alleys in Akihabara.

First up is a hot new concept McDonalds has released in Japan. The Japanese have been going crazy for McDonald’s. First it was the Big Macs, next came the Mega Mac’s, and now its the Quarter Pounder. The hip new “non-branded” restaurants have been popping up in Tokyo. Its fast food minimalist at its finest, the new Quarter Pounder restaurants have only one burger on the menu, no its not the Big Mac. Source

In the United States we have elderly greeting people at Wal*Marts, and cartoon characters to great peope at Amusement Parks. In Japan they have robots! There is a new Robot stationed outside iExpo 2008 in Tokyo to warmly greet visitors. Let the eldery retire, keep the cartoons on TV, Robots are never tired, and hopefully never angry. Source

Finally, as promised a tour through a back alley used electronics Akihabara shop. The store is packed full of gems, once the height of technology these items were quickly discarded for something bigger or better, technology moves fast in Japan but these stores offer a chance to pause and remember. Source

As usual Tech Travel week is once again bringing you the latest and greatest in tech travel news, this week has been another big one. While many of the attractions listed this week are things you actually can not go, we feel they still fall right into the category of tech travel tourism. Confused? That’s ok read on and all will be revealed.

The first item is a bit of sad news for Trekkie travelers, the Star Trek Mecca “Star Treck Experience” in Las Vegas has closed. The museum/rides was housed in the Hilton hotel, but the company was looking at bringing a more profitable attraction in for some time now. They must have found something new to go in there because the Star Trek attraction is out the streets looking for a new location. Source

Next up is some serious American ingenuity, although you can not necessarily visit these sites as a tourists these locations represent the future. Technology progressing in front of your eyes, now that is something to take note of in your tech travels.

The U.S.’s largest solar plant is located in sunny Nevada. Created by Solar One ACCIONA’s plant produces enough energy to power over 14,000 homes annually.

Next up is Space Port America, picture an airport, but instead of catching a flight to some other world city you take a trip to space. This is the concept that is being put into reality Las Cruces, New Mexio. Home to Virgin Galactic and a number of other small space tourism companies the project is poised to make New Mexico the world’s hub for space tourism.

After talking about Space travel, regular old ground transportation may sound a little boring. However, one company that’s developing some new train technology could revolutionize train travel in the United States. American Maglev is pushing magnetic levitation tech for use in urban transportation systems. They claim their methods are much cheaper then traditional Maglev trains. They are currently constructing a test track in Georgia, United States.

Another busy week for tech travel news. Considering the controversy in the US elections about million dollar planitariums its only fitting we bring you news of the most expensive planetarium on earth! Also on tap today are massive solar fields in Nevada, and the closure of a beloved tech attraction in Vegas.

First of is a new hotel in Malibu offering all the amenities of a geeks dream home. Order room service on your ipod, surf the net via wi-fi, or watch some youtube videos on your big screen TV. Truly a hotel for the technologist in you, the best part is that the Malibu hotel is only a trial and a LA software company is looking to role these out nation wide. Source

Further abroad in the land of the rising sun you can now visit Thanko’s flagship store in Tokyo. Thanko is most famous for its campy usb creations, from heated slippers to sushi usb, use the map, and with a bit of luck you should be in USB heaven soon.

San Fransisco is home to the worlds most advanced planetarium, the Morison Planitarium will blow you away, three stories tall and $20 million dollars, is it worth it? You decide, as for the political news you can view the much debated Chicago planetarium here.

For the final instalation, check out this cool sci-fi style tower from the Czech Republic. Although the tower itself is cool the really neat part is when you catch site of the aliean like creatures climbing up and down the sides of it..the most sci-fi modern are in the world!

Be sure to tune in next week for the weekly technology travel round up.

Another busy week in the world of technology travel. From more tech capital Japan goodness to solar powered rickshaws in India more tech destinations then ever sprang up this past week.

1) Giant SpaceShip in Germany
The Sensapolis Fun Park in the German city of Böblinge has constructed a giant 3 story spaceship “Second Solar”. Although the spaceship is more for the kids then interstellar travel, it looks pretty fun and includes a ‘alien breeding ground’ (sex ed?), a space lab, and a 3D theater. Source

2) Tokyo’s 3D Planetarium Theater
Tokyo’s Science Museum has a new 3D planetarium theater named the Synra Dome. To infinity and beyond!! Source

3) Tracking Elephants
Even elephants are getting their own sim cards. I have heard that everyone in developing countries are getting mobile phones, but now even the animals are! A wildlife refuge in Kenya has set up a tracking mechanism to track the moment of elephants to ensure they don’t wander into off limit areas. Source

4) Personal Rapid Transit, Cooming Soon?
A CNN article talking to Jacob Roberts President of Connect Ithaca, a group that wants to introduce America’s first podcar system to the small college town. Source

5) Solar Powered Rickshaw In India
A new initiative is under way in India to introduce solar powered rickshaws. Electric powered with a place to charge mobile phones, these really are the rickshaw’s of the future! Source

There are a number of online companies where you can post software projects you want coded and freelance workers from around the world will bid the price of the project down to the minimum level they will do it for. You can get software made very quickly and cheaply using these services. If you have had a project in mind for awhile now but have not had the time or money to get it done check out these sources and see how easily you can bring your project to life.

1) E-Lance

2) Rent A Coder

3) Script Lance

4) FX-Web Solution

Part two of the big week in tech travel news. This post has a much more gamer friendly feel to it.

1) North Korean Arcade?

Uk Resistance had a big story on a North Korean arcade that was picked up by Gizmodo. Some mysterious person by the name of Justin. I have never heard of anything like this in North Korea. The photos of the decrepit arcade and game names do seem to suggest that this arcade is indeed North Korean.

http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/2008/09/inside-north-korean-arcade.html

http://gizmodo.com/5055198/north-korean-arcades-are-incredibly-sad

2) Soviet Arcade Museum I imagine there would be a deccent amount of cross over between the North Korean and Soviet machines, they even could have been made in the same factory! The Soviet arcade museum has been open for awhile now, but given the info on the arcade it seems relevent today. http://www.15kop.ru/index_en.htm

3) Buyers Guide to Anime FIgurines io9 had a great post on buying figurines in Tokyo. A great tutorial for those on thier way to the land of the rising sun. Where to buy figurines in Akiba: - Robots: Tsukumo Robot Kingdom, Tsukumo Pasoko Honten 3F, 1-9-7 Soto Kanda, Chiyoda-ku Phone: 03-3251-0987 3 minute walk from Akihabara Station. - Manufactured figurine sets: Asobit Character City, 1-2-9 Soto Kanda, Chiyoka-ku. Phone: 03-3257-2590 - Fan-made figurines: Radio Kaikan, one minute walk from the Akihabara Electric Town exit.

http://io9.com/5055031/how-to-buy-figurines-in-tokyo-an-illustrated-guide

There was so much more tech travel news then usual this week that I decided to summarize it all in one big post rather then slowly publishing it.

1) High Tech Tables
A new restaurant located in Soho, London is offering it dinners a new interactive experience with every meal. Patrons of Inamo will be seated at what is essentially a giant table top computer screen. You can order your food, a taxi, play games, change the appearance of the table, and even pay the bill. Read more.

There is even a similar resturant in the United States created by one of Ataris founders.

In the U.S., the uWink franchise allows diners to order food and drink via touch screens, as well as play games and watch movie previews. There’s a place on the table for swiping your credit card when you’re ready to pay the bill.

The brainchild of Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari Inc., the first franchise opened in Woodland Hills, Calif., in 2006, with restaurants also in Hollywood and Mountain View.

“UWink is the only touch-screen restaurant in the United States,” said Alissa Tappan, a spokeswoman for the Van Nuys, Calif.-based company. “On our touch-screen terminals are short games, word puzzles, trivia quizzes, horoscopes and a wide variety of activities.”

Restaurant featured on Engadget

2) Market Fresh Micropocessors

The birthplace of the semiconductor is now a small fruit market. Only a small plauqe marks the historic home of its inventor, another historical marker had been placed at the market but has since been removed. Read More.

The Fiesta Super Market located at 391 San Antonio Road in Mountain View, Calif., sprang to life about three months ago…William Shockley, the famous (some would say infamous) physicist who started a semiconductor laboratory on the site and hired many of the chip industry’s founding fathers.

http://gizmodo.com/5048923/silicon-valleys-birthplace-of-the-semiconductor-now-a-fruit-and-vegetable-stand

3) Gadget Filled Bridge

Last year a bridge in Minosota collapsed taking the lives of 13 people. The tragedy highlighted the growing problems in the United States infustructure. Hoping the avoid the terrible tradgey that occured the bridge built to replace the previous one after the collapse has been loaded with all sorts of high tech features. Read More.

The $234 million bridge is wired with hundreds of sensors that collect data on everything from how the bridge handles loads and vibrations to corrosion levels from road salt—and its redundant design ensures that the bridge will stay up even if a section should fail. The sensors will also work together with a camera system that will monitor and collect data on traffic flow. There are even sensors that can activate a de-icing system when necessary. All of this data will feed into a control room near the bridge where it can be analyzed by DOT workers and researchers.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/18/minneapolis.bridge.ap/index.html?eref=rss_tech

The New York Times ran an article From Snapshots, a 3-D View that looked at Microsofts latest photo software called Photosynth. The Photosynth software is available now as a free download from Microsofts live labs program. Bascially what the Photosynth software does is stitch together severl dozen or several thousands photos of something and creates a 3D model that you can zoom in and out of and rotate 360′. There are many great applications for the software and it provides a much more interactive feel to photos. 

The more photos you take of your target (from all angles, and all zooms) the more detailed the Photosynth image will be. Some of the photosynth photos are so detailed you feel like your viewing a proffesional 3D mock up. Its an amazing peice of software and the price is definitly right.

Forbes had a great piece online titled “Grass-Roots Innovation Takes Root“. The article looks at the current trend of do it yourself DIY mentality that is starting to take off. The article looks at projects like MAKE Magazine, open source code projects, and various hacks. Forbes also profiled eight ‘do it yourselfers’ who are changing to world, from building rocket ships with catalog parts to selling standardized genetic parts to make your own drugs, plastics, and petroleum products.
I think its high time North American started bring technology hacks and innovation to everyday life. The success of our economy rests on our ability to innovate and a lot of that comes down to our culture. Japan for example has a culture of innovation, children build robots and play with electronics at a young age, man of them strive to understand how they work and go on to engineer some of the incredible robot culture the country has developed. The more our culture hungers for innovative technology and the more people that are pushing the envelope the better off our society will be.

Ever wonder what the deepest hole every dug was? OK well maybe you never have thought about it, but it is interesting to know nevertheless.  During the cold war the Soviets decided to dig a hole as deep as the possibly could, given their geographic location digging a hole to China would have been out of the question. They started digging their hole in a remote mining community named Pechenga, the goal was to beat an American scientific team to something called the ‘Mohorovicic Discontinuity’ (Moho), the heavily disputed boundry between the earths crust and magma filled mantle. The Russians continued to dig for over fifteen years eventually reaching a depth of 40,226 ft, the current world record.