This was a two hour bike endurance race that Atsushi, Masaru, Hirohito and myself participated in on Saturday. Held at Suzuka Circuit, it was interesting seeing so many race bikes in such a small space.

Our team came 55th out of 79 teams (there was meant to be 87 teams but 8 didn’t show). Out of our team, I somehow managed to beat Atsushi’s laptime. While he did a 12 point something and a 13 minute lap/s, I did a 12 and a 12 point something. The winner (a solo rider) managed 14 laps, whereas we only managed 9. Our team was one minute away from starting a 10th lap when the two hours were up. I reckon if we start near the front of the pack (we started right at the back, +1 min), and had a few adjustments to the bike, the team can do 10 laps next year

Official results:

http://cycle.powertag.jp/
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8月30日(土)->2時間エンデューロ->2時間エンデューロ フラッ
トバー
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enter our No.959 and Push the Search Button(検索)
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★2時間エンデューロ フラットバー

55位 959-PACIFICA RACING
Time 2:01:04.85
laps 9周(nine laps)

Oh yeah, and it was raining!

Some idiot threw my bike over the balcony last night. Was very silent too - I must have been in bed when it happened - I thought I heard someone, but it didn’t sound suspicious. Two other bikes on my floor were attacked - one was chained to the apartment’s window bars so it’s just sprawled on the ground, and another from the same apartment (my neighbours is halfway down the stairs, next to the lift. I just checked the other floors, and no other bikes are effected. An interesting fact is that the bike nearest the elevator, owned by an Indian couple, was untouched. The damage seems to be a buggered rear wheel (the tyre is amazingly still inflated), and the gears have completely snapped from the joint.

I live on the 7th floor, and it landed on a roof on the 4th story. I’m happy this didn’t happen last month

Here is a list of places and activities I did over the Japanese Summer school holiday period (6 weeks) from the 19th of July till the end of August.

Had a BBQ and watched the fireworks at the Gamagori Matsuri Noryo Fireworks Festival.
Donned a Yukata and saw the fireworks at the Nagoya Minato Matsuri Fireworks Festival at Nagoya Port.
Saw Hakuho at the Nagoya Sumo Tournament.
Attended the World Cosplay Summit 2008 in Oosu and Oasis 21, Nagoya.
Went to Hiroshima to witness the Peace Memorial Ceremony on the anniversary of the first atomic bombing.
Saw inside the 7km Mazda factory.
Took a day trip to Miyajima; famous for it’s floating gates (torii). Walked up the 535m Mount Misen.
Explored Himeji Castle.
Went to Nara to see the Festival of Ten Thousand Lanterns at Todaiji, the biggest buddha in Japan inside the Daibutsuden, and the Obon Mantori at the Kasuga Grand Shrine.
Briefly saw the Daimonji Gozan Okuriki Bonfire Festival in Kyoto, unaware that bonfires apparently only last for half an hour.
Contemplated the Zen rock garden at the Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto.
Saw some cool fighting robots at the Japanese SciFi Convention, Daicon 7 in Osaka.
Found that the Ninja demonstration at the Ninja Villiage in Iga Ueno does not demonstrate Ninjutsu - only Kenjutsu and Shurikenjutsu, the latter of which they teach the kids by literally saying point and throw (scary to see uncontrollable metal shuriken flying around the room).
Rode in the 2 hour Shimano Suzuka Road Endurance Bike Race, and got the fastest laptime of any of my teammates.
Went inside the Fuji Antarctic exploration ship, and the Nagoya Maratime Museum.
… and a few other bits and pieces.

Things to do this month on the weekends:
Head to Gifu, Nagashima Spaland, and perhaps the Asahi Beer Factory…

The best new visual technologies relating to photography from Siggraph.

Finding Paths through the World’s Photos
This is similar to Microsoft’s photosynth technology.

And what I think is really cool and could be the digital camera technology of the future:
Programmable Aperture Photography: Multiplexed Light Field Acquisition

This means that it looks like someone’s worked out a method of digitally refocussing, readjusting the depth of field, and slightly changing the tilt and pan of a photo that has already been exposed.
Instead of having a single hole aperture, they replace it with an array and.. well.. watch the video

Lastly this method of editing objects in video is brilliantly simple.
Microsoft Unwrap Mosaics

via HackADay