IT lists

  Overview Under current systems, an AI itself cannot win an election and hold a seat or term. Public-office qualifications in many countries presume a human (a natural person), so AI is positioned as a helper inside government. In practice, more agencies are trying virtual AIs for advice and front-desk support, but accountability always rests with people. The aim of using AI in public administration is to move procedures forward reliably: shorter wait times for residents, faster document handling, earlier detection of fraud and errors, and clearer public disclosure. Benefits First, 24/7 front-desk service. Chat or voice can guide residents in multiple languages and ease burdens on seniors and families with children. Second, application support and format checks reduce rejections and keep reviews moving. Third, anomaly detection in bidding and procurement, conflict-of-interest signals, and cross-checking past cases strengthen the base of transparency. Fourth, public-comment and ...

  What is WEEB / the “Weeb Economy”? “Weeb” originally meant a foreigner who is obsessed with Japanese anime, manga, or pop culture. In recent years, it has often been used more positively. Weebs generate economic activity not only by consuming content but also through tourism, purchasing goods, attending events, and engaging in experience-based services. Types of Economic Impact from Weebs in Japan Sector Economic Impact Tourism “Anime pilgrimage” (visiting real-life locations featured in anime/manga) brings in revenue for local governments via accommodation, dining, and transport. Weebs also drive inbound tourism. Content Exports & Licensing Anime, manga, and games distributed and localized overseas. Weeb demand supports these businesses and provides key revenue streams. Merchandise & Goods Market Demand for character goods, figures, cosplay items, apparel, and related products. Increasingly includes digital goods (e.g. digital art, NFTs). Cultural Services ...

  Overview IPA (Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan) is an incorporated administrative agency under METI. Its mission is to build a trustworthy IT society by strengthening cybersecurity, issuing guidance, and developing IT talent. The current president is Hiroshi Saito . Main roles National exams: Operates the Information Technology Engineers Examination (e.g., IT Passport, Fundamental Information, Applied Information, Registered Information Security Specialist/SC). RISS system: Manages registration/renewal/training for Registered Information Security Specialist holders (valid for 3 years; renewal requires online training, etc.). Vulnerability information: Co-runs JVN / JVN iPedia with JPCERT/CC to publish and share vulnerability information in Japan. Incident response & evaluation: J-CRAT for targeted-attack response; JISEC (Common Criteria certification) for IT product security. SMB support: SECURITY ACTION self-declaration program (on...

USEN’s landing page for food service robots. They propose and support multiple brands (Pudu/Keenon/SoftBank/Gausium) end-to-end, including maintenance. Free trials available. Main models & features BellaBot: multi-tier trays and a “cat” design that boosts customer engagement; ideal for serving and bussing. KettyBot Pro: runs in ~52 cm aisles, front display, tray sensors; an upgraded version of USEN’s best-selling unit. PuduBot 2: adjustable 3–7 trays (5+ as option), 360° hand-off. Servi IRIS EDITION / Servi+: prioritizes mobility and ease of operation. Other options: Keenbot T8/T5, Delivery X1, etc. Cost ballpark “About ¥92/hour” is an example: ¥33,250/month ÷ (12 hours × 30 days), assuming a 5-year lease of Ketty with maintenance. Actual costs vary by model and contract terms. Implementation flow Inquiry → 2) Consultation → 3) On-site survey (with live driving test) → 4) Initial setup & operations support. Nationwide maintenance available. ...

 The term “homebrew” varies by context. Below are four major domains and their historical significance, summarized briefly. Computing history (Homebrew Computer Club, 1975–): A venue where individuals brought circuits and code to conduct “open experiments.” Milestones like the Apple I demo helped democratize personal computing and nurtured an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Beer homebrewing: In the United States, a 1978 legal change effectively legalized homebrewing, spurring the rise of small regional breweries and accelerating the craft-beer movement—a textbook case of citizen trial-and-error revitalizing an industry. Game console/software homebrew: Development outside official SDKs and the modding scene fostered deep hardware understanding, trained indie talent, and aided preservation of retro games. At the same time, it has long existed in tension with laws like the DMCA, alongside debates over preservation exemptions. macOS Homebrew (package manager, 2009–): By enab...

  Benefits (with concrete examples) Ethereum (2014): From July 22 to Sept 2, 2014, Ethereum’s ICO raised about $18.3M (over 31,500 BTC). It went on to become the key smart-contract base for DeFi and NFTs. Brave / BAT (2017): Raised ~$35M in under 30 seconds . By 2025 the ecosystem had grown to ~97.8M monthly active users , and the token’s use cases (ad rewards, creator payouts) were implemented. Filecoin (2017 → live): $52M presale + $205M ICO. Mainnet launched Oct 15, 2020 ; by 2025 Q2 the network reported ~1,100 PiB of active stored data—evidence of real demand. Chainlink (2017): Raised $32M . Decentralized oracles supplying off-chain data are now widely integrated across projects. Takeaway: When capital → product → real usage lined up (Ethereum/Brave/Filecoin/Chainlink), the ICO served as an effective initial accelerator . Harms (where problems surfaced) BitConnect (2017–2018): High-yield “program” deemed a Ponzi . U.S. DOJ cited ~$2B scale; cour...

 Used cooking oil from homes and restaurants can, if collected properly, be reborn as local biodiesel or even aviation SAF. This article, guided by the latest 2024 revision, organizes the essentials of feedstock acceptance—managing acid value, moisture, and impurities—the practical blend approach (generally up to B5), and key points for quality control and storage. The basic rule is to bring oil in PET bottles to municipal or retail collection points—never pour it down the drain. Collected oil fuels community buses and public vehicles as BDF, and, with JAL’s initiative, increasingly circulates as SAF feedstock. On quality, focus on meeting specification items, lot testing, sealed/shaded/low-temperature storage, no open flames, clear labeling, and preventing contamination. Operators should confirm vehicle maker compatibility and safety rules, and inform residents about drop-off sites, schedules, and container requirements—so households, companies, and local governments can turn “was...

 “Living on Water” — field implementations at a glance Myanmar, Inle Lake (floating gardens) Artificial islets made by bundling lake weeds and hyacinth, topped with soil to grow tomatoes, etc. Beds are moored with bamboo; harvest and maintenance are done by boat—an affordable climate adaptation. Cambodia, Tonlé Sap (floating/stilt settlements) Homes float or stand on stilts to track rainy-season floods and dry-season lows. Villages (e.g., Chong Kneas) adapt by moving or riding the water level. Vietnam/Thailand (amphibious houses) Houses sit on land in normal times and float during floods: buoyant foundations plus vertical guide poles and flexible utilities control vertical motion. Pilots along the Mekong; Thai prototypes expanded after the 2011 floods. Europe, Netherlands—Maasbommel Planned amphibious neighborhood: vertical guides and flexible hookups let homes track up to ~5.5 m of water-level change (32 amphibious + 14 floating units). Integrated with “Room for th...

Genba Neko is a safety-check meme that grew online from Kumamine’s “Telephone Cat.” A helmeted cat points and says “Yoshi!”—satirizing hollow, ritualized safety culture. The official line is “Shigoto Neko,” adopted by groups like JISHA for safety campaigns. For commercial use or distribution, use official licensed materials.

 A small home “plant factory” is feasible with three pillars: (1) microgreens (7–12-day cycles), (2) leafy greens/herbs (30–45 days), and (3) mushrooms (low-light tolerant), enabling quick cash flow. At S scale (one 120×45 cm rack, 3 LEDs, 12 trays), initial cost is ¥50,000–70,000. With 10-day cycles × 3 per month → 36 trays → 50 g × 6 packs/tray at ¥350–450 each, monthly revenue is ¥76,000–97,200; after seeds, materials, electricity, etc. (~¥20,000), gross profit is roughly ¥55,000–77,000. M scale (two racks) needs ¥90,000–150,000 for ¥70,000–180,000/month; L scale (≈2 tatami) ¥180,000–350,000 for ¥150,000–400,000/month. Gear: metal rack, LEDs at PPFD 200–300 with timers, trays/media, circulation fan, temp-humidity/pH/EC tools, sanitation items. Sales: sample nearby cafés/bistros (10) and offer fixed-weekday subscriptions; add household subscriptions. SOP: daily checks/watering; on ship days, dry harvest, weigh, label; weekly cleaning/disinfection. Risks: mold (avoid over-seeding/...

  Gutter Oil Below is a concise summary of “gutter oil (地溝油)” and key points on safe recycling and Japanese examples. 1) What is “gutter oil”? A colloquial term—primarily associated with problems in China and Taiwan—for illegally re-refined “edible” oil made from waste oils recovered from sewers, drains, grease traps, slaughter by-products, or from cooking oils that have been overheated and reused excessively. Health risks have been flagged (e.g., increased PAHs—polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons—and benzo[a]pyrene), and such practices are strictly policed in many countries. PMCcfs.gov.hk In China, nationwide crackdowns and tighter regulation have progressed since around 2010; illegal diversion to food use carries heavy penalties. Emerald Wikipedia 2) Recycling principle: never return it to food use Used cooking oil (UCO) should not be routed back to food. The international and domestic norm is to divert UCO to non-food uses such as biodiesel (BDF), sustainable aviation fuel (...

Mathematical Explanation of the Heightfield Ocean Shader Mathematical Explanation of the Heightfield Ocean Shader 1. Definition of the Ocean Surface (Heightfield) The water surface is defined as a scalar function on the x-z plane: y = h(x,z,t) In this shader, several sine waves are superimposed: h(x,z,t) = Σ A i · sin( k i · (x,z) + ω i t ) where A i is the amplitude, k i the wave vector, and ω i the time-dependent frequency. 2. Ray Parametric Equation With camera position r 0 and ray direction d , the ray is: r (t) = r 0 + t d ,   t ≥ 0 The y-component is: y ray (t) = r 0y + t d y 3. Intersection Condition The intersection occurs when: y ray (t) = h(x ray (t), z ray (t), t global ) Equivalently, solving the root-finding equation: f(t) = (r 0y + t d y ) − h(r 0x +t d x , r 0z +t d z , t global ) = 0 4. Numerical Root-Finding Bracket...

Barnsley Fern (IFS) — Explanation & Equations Barnsley Fern (IFS) — Explanation & Equations An English explanation focusing on the core formulas behind the classic Iterated Function System fern, plus a single‑file p5.js demo. 1) What the code does (English) We maintain a single point $(x_n, y_n)$. At each step we randomly choose one of four affine maps and update the point. Repeating this (the so‑called chaos game ) produces the fern's self‑similar structure. $$ \begin{pmatrix}x_{n+1}\\ y_{n+1}\end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix}a_i & b_i\\ c_i & d_i\end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix}x_n\\ y_n\end{pmatrix} + \begin{pmatrix}e_i\\ f_i\end{pmatrix} \quad \text{with probability } p_i\,. $$ Here $i\in\{1,2,3,4\}$. The four maps and their probabilities are chosen to sculpt the stem, the main leafl...

Even with temperature set to zero, LLMs may not always produce identical answers because non-determinism arises from the inference process itself, not just randomness. Traditionally, GPU parallelism and floating-point rounding errors were blamed. However, research from Thinking Machines Lab identifies the deeper cause as a “lack of batch invariance.” When servers group multiple requests, they change execution strategies depending on batch size or composition. These shifts subtly alter numerical results, and small differences accumulate into divergent outputs. The effect is especially clear in matrix multiplications, attention, and RMSNorm. The solution is to enforce batch-independent kernels, but this improves reproducibility at the cost of reduced performance. https://thinkingmachines.ai/blog/defeating-nondeterminism-in-llm-inference/

 XBRL is an XML-based language used to digitally describe and exchange corporate financial information. It standardizes data by tagging financial items with meaningful labels, enabling automated and efficient analysis and disclosure. In Japan, it is used in EDINET, and its adoption is growing worldwide.

 Brief premise: In 1948, Monk said, “We liked Ravel, Stravinsky, Debussy, Prokofiev, and Schoenberg, and we may have been influenced a little,” though he did not name specific pieces. Stravinsky (representative tracks that make his traits easy to hear) Festival-like polyrhythms / ostinati https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkwqPJZe8ms (“The Rite of Spring,” LSO) Bitonality (the “Petrushka chord,” C against F♯) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uzmJyl_ZiY (explanation) / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noJLcu7gHJ0 (demonstration) Block construction and wind-color writing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72V_OTSiAkM (“Symphonies of Wind Instruments”) A reworking of ragtime vocabulary (a bridge to jazz practice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRslORbLrSs (“Piano-Rag-Music,” composer at the piano) Dry, dance-driven late neoclassicism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TPS6TLKoBk (“Agon,” complete) “Stravinskian inside Monk” (with reasons) “Epistrophy” — stron...

No. Song Musical / Opera (Year Composer/Lyricist) Notable Video 1 My Funny Valentine Babes in Arms (1937) — Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart “My Funny Valentine” (Erin Dilly / Babes in Arms) 2 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes Roberta (1933) — Jerome Kern / Otto Harbach “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” from Roberta 3 Summertime Porgy and Bess (1935) — George Gershwin / DuBose & Dorothy Heyward Ella Fitzgerald – Summertime 4 All the Things You Are Very Warm for May (1939) — Jerome Kern / Oscar Hammerstein II “All the Things You Are” performance 5 Ain’t Misbehavin’ Hot Chocolates (1929) — Fats Waller / Andy Razaf “Ain’t Misbehavin’” example video 6 Blue Skies Betsy (1927) — Irving Berlin “Blue Skies” (Broadway / Jazz cover) 7 It’s Only a Paper Moon The Great Magoo / Say When (1933) — Harold Arlen / E. Y. “Yip” Harburg & Billy Rose “It’s Only a Paper Moon” video 8 Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) Paris...

  A. Holographic Principle (physics) ’t Hooft (1993), “Dimensional Reduction in Quantum Gravity.” Early statement that a region’s information scales with boundary area. arXiv Susskind (1994), “The World as a Hologram.” Clarifies and extends ’t Hooft’s idea within high-energy theory. arXiv Maldacena (1997/98), AdS/CFT correspondence. Concrete duality: gravity in AdS ↔ boundary CFT. arXiv +1 Aharony, Gubser, Maldacena, Ooguri, Oz (1999), review. Standard survey of AdS/CFT and holography. arXiv +1 Veronika E. Hubeny (2015), review. Clear, pedagogical overview of AdS/CFT and applications. arXiv +1 Quanta Magazine (popular explanations). Accessible reporting on de Sitter holography and related advances. Quanta Magazine +1 Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Holography.” Optical background on how 3D images arise from 2D interference patterns. Encyclopedia Britannica B. “Holonomic” / Mind–Matter (metaphoric & integrative) David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicat...

 Japan’s Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Businesses (“Fūeihō”) is a law designed to prevent nuisances and trouble that tend to arise in nighttime customer service and entertainment, and to balance community life with the night-time economy. The key concept is “settai” (personalized entertaining of customers): actions such as staying close to a particular patron to liven things up, singing or playing together are deemed settai and are considered likely to cause negative effects—encouraging intoxication, persistent solicitation, and billing disputes. Businesses that involve settai require a license and, in principle, may not operate late at night. Formats without settai can operate late at night with a notification filing, but staff must observe clear boundaries in proximity and engagement. Typical business types include cabarets and host clubs, which are settai-based; challenges include transparent pricing, curbing excessive solicitation and spending, and preventing hara...

  Background of the Recording and Production of “Sukiyaki Étouffée” “Sukiyaki Étouffée” appears on Koichi Makigami’s cover album Koroshi no Blues (1992). It is a cover of Kyu Sakamoto’s “Ue o Muite Arukō” (“Sukiyaki”). The credits list the original lyricist Rokusuke Ei and composer Hachidai Nakamura, with additional lyrics and arrangement by Guy Klucevsek . Liner-note sources indicate it was recorded in New York (with the performance sung in English ). Makigami had a strong desire at the time to make a solo album themed around postwar Japanese popular songs (kayōkyoku), a direction that took shape after his 1990 single “Heisei Jaran-bushi.” With John Zorn involved on the New York side, the sessions gathered top downtown players. In interviews, Makigami says he handled everything from budget talks with Toshiba EMI to travel logistics himself—“I arranged the trip and everything on my own.” The repertoire was decided in consultation with Zorn; the New York schedule was “thril...