Intel SSD taking off in Akihabara

After the 80GB model became below 30,000 yen, the Intel SSD HDDs are sold well in Akihabara.

http://akiba-pc.watch.impress.co.jp/hotline/20090801/etc_shopwatch.html

New technology of 34 nm processing and the Intel brand seem to be enough to attract many people.

Matsue Castle

During the Meiji Restoration period, a lot of castles in Japan were destroyed. Fortunately, this Matsue-Jo Castle, which was built in 1611 after 5 years construction, survived and still stands beautifully at the hill top of the Matsue City.

The keep of the castle looks 5 storied building, but it is trickily built with 6 floors inside. The castle shows some aspects of the civil war period in order to protect the people inside. Black wall of the keep and the stone wall surrounding the building, for example, are all built for practical protection purposes rather than keeping the appearance clean and beautiful.

The second floor also shows the surviving strategy of the castle. You can see the well to pick up water about 30 m below the floor. It also has internal storage space to keep food.

The third floor has helmets and protectors from the civil war period. You can also see old paintings and miniature models of the castle and surrounding regions in different times.

The top floor offers spectacular view of the Matsue City. Toward southwest, you can see beautiful Shinjiko Lake. In the morning, you might be able to see small boats picking up small shells (Shijimi), which go quite well with Miso soup.

I visited the castle last Sunday after maybe more than 15 years. Unfortunately, there were not so many non-Japanese people. I think the castle should be something that the Japanese people should feel proud of and should be more openly promoted outside of Japan.

Moon's shade on the Earth

This photograph taken from the US satellite Terra displays the shade of the Moon on the Earth. As can be seen on the photo, Tokyo was under the thick clouds, so people were not able to observe the eclipse. However, when the clouds sometimes became thin, the sun became visible through the clouds.

When I came out of the building just before 12 noon, I couldn't locate where the sun was. However, when the clouds became thinner, I was able to spot the sun and took some photos with iPhone. I was a bit worried about my eyes because I had had retinal bleeding many times on my both eyes, and I should be extremely careful about ultraviolet sun light. However, this was such a thrilling event that I decided to take some photos anyway, considering that high frequency waves such as ultraviolet light should be scattered away by water molecules in the clouds. Of course, that filtering effect doesn't screen the higher energy (and shorter wave length) waves, so it's better not to see the sun in naked eyes. Fortunately, iPhone's LCD is big and clear enough to see the sun through it. I guess this is one of the safest ways to see the sun.
After taking photos, my eyes have been OK so far. However, maybe I should see an eye doctor to diagnose my eyes soon, just to be safe.