2020 Japan Olympics

[Taro Toporific]

No recognition of the knowing, ironic reference to the last Tokyo games games then?

Even in 1964, Tokyo didn't look that good. Shotengai were just a squalid rusty sheet-metal holes. I would go to great effort to avoid them when I was here for the '64 Tokyo Olympics ( my father was partly responsible for the Komazawa Olympic Stadium).

[matsuki]

Actually, I think they are largely right but isn't that perhaps true of everywhere? Including the image Japanese people have of Europe and the US?

Definitely truth to that but in super internet connected 2021, there is really no excuse for that kind of ignorance about a country you're creating an intro for when you have years to prepare and plenty of Brits living there to get it right. I say this, remembering it hitting 8pm in Yokohama last night and walking past a bakery that threw out a "Orders STOP!" sign to signify they were closing

[Coligny]

The “cashier close” from local mcdos never cease to amaze me…

[Wage Slave]

Actually, I think they are largely right but isn't that perhaps true of everywhere? Including the image Japanese people have of Europe and the US?

Definitely truth to that but in super internet connected 2021, there is really no excuse for that kind of ignorance about a country you're creating an intro for when you have years to prepare and plenty of Brits living there to get it right. I say this, remembering it hitting 8pm in Yokohama last night and walking past a bakery that threw out a "Orders STOP!" sign to signify they were closing

They were not creating an intro for Japan. They made an advertisement for their coverage directed at their viewers. As in all advertising emotion and impression are far more important than reality. It can still be a thing of beauty and I still think this is. They have form on this. Some of the best adverts I have ever seen were made by the BBC. The very people who don't deal in advertising.

[matsuki]

They were not creating an intro for Japan. They made an advertisement for their coverage directed at their viewers. As in all advertising emotion and impression are far more important than reality. It can still be a thing of beauty and I still think this is. They have form on this. Some of the best adverts I have ever seen were made by the BBC. The very people who don't deal in advertising.

I understand it's directed at their viewers and I agree it has it's artistic merit and looks really well done....but some of it's unnecessarily silly and inaccurate to do in 2020/21 for a real event in a real country. If the reality of Tokyo was lacking in material that generated emotion/impression, I'd understand taking liberties but as well all know, that is not the case.

[Wage Slave]

You remind me a lot of that Shapiro character. You can take that as a compliment if you wish but from my point of view the ground shifting is worse than the Great Tohoku Earthquake.

[matsuki]

from my point of view the ground shifting is worse than the Great Tohoku Earthquake.

Ehhhh, shifting how? I got no prejudice or hate for the BBC. Artistically speaking, that video is pretty neat. I really do like the concept.

What personally irks me is the same stuff that Taro and the J-netizens pointed out, it strays a bit too far from reality and seems heavily HK influenced. Assuming the creators did that stuff intentionally, I just don't understand why lean into the fake stuff and virtually non-existent skateboarding when there are plenty of more interesting legit aspects of Tokyo to use. You hit the nail on the head with it not being only a stereotype thing but every country having outdated, stereotypes about other countries...so why continue the tradition? Isn't promoting Tokyo supposedly a major reason for hosting the Olympics? (though all is forgiven if they were denied permission to use likenesses of specific landmarks and such...wouldn't be the first time I heard of that either)

[matsuki]

Ibaraki police seek motive of woman who used squirt gun to snuff out Olympic flame

Kayoko-Takahashi-in-Mito-City.jpg

Kayoko Takahashi sprays the torch runner in Mito City on Sunday (Twitter)

“I [wanted to] snuff out the flame,” said Takahashi upon her arrest on suspicion of disruption of business. “I oppose the Olympics.”

Despite this, Ibaraki Prefectural Police are still unsure of the motive of a 53-year-old woman who lodged a protest against the proceedings over the weekend, reports Fuji News Network (July 6).

https://www.tokyoreporter.com/crime/iba ... pic-flame/

[Marked Trail]

SURPRISE! Tokyo Olympic Shitshow smells ‘like a toilet’.

Days before the Olympics, Tokyo tries to stop its swimming venue from smelling ‘like a toilet’
During heavy rains, untreated sewage is flushed into Tokyo Bay: the venue for the triathlon.
July 13, 2021 11:59 PM EDT

[matsuki]

They should do a cover...feces flowing underground

Enomoto conducted an experiment last year on the sediment and said methane released at low tide from sludge below the new sand bed is one of the factors contributing to the bad smell. But he said the presence of bacteria remains a key concern. “E. coli is just an indicator bacterium which is relatively weak,” he said. “If the presence of E. coli is confirmed, stronger ones like dysentery or typhoid may be there too.”

Cheers to your health!

[matsuki]

Let's! Promote za Japanese "No sex" culture

https___s3-images.sportbible.com_s3_content_22ec0d1760f241d9d849d29bb03db1e9.jpg

And in an effort to keep athletes focused on their disciplines and socially distanced, organisers for this year's delayed event have created so-called 'anti-sex' beds.

The cardboard structures have been installed in athletes' dorms at the Olympic village and it's hoped it will help stem the tide of Covid in Japan.

https://www.sportbible.com/news/news-at ... s-20210717

[Coligny]

Hey, sh1thead ! Stop linking to the onion.

Wait…

Nevermind,

and stop this planet
I want out…

[matsuki]

The Olympic bubble is seemingly giving itself a Covid dutch oven with 71 reported infected. I realize the vaccinated individuals that test positive are not showing any symptoms but there are quite a few unvaccinated people in the bubble and this does not bode well. Meanwhile, there are plenty of meaningless actions like medalists putting on their own medals to feign some sort of proactive safety. Sterilize the medals, have a vaccinated individual who has tested neg. award the medals.

I was predicting a no/limited fan Olympics last year, the shiftiest that has ensued so far is downright embarrassing and beyond the threshold where I thought we'd see postponement or cancellation.

[Coligny]

Received a mail from aiche prefektur today saying basically:

Hi y’all
So… like guys… don’t go to Tokyo right now mm’kay ?
Also… obon and shit… like play nintendo at home or watch TV….

Honestly, I hope they will barricade the bridges onto the city so plague bearers from Tokyo don’t come down.
Might even put a fake checkpoint at my favorite b-road tunnel to get non local number plate cars to turn away…
Need me a yellow hazmat suit to look the part…

[dimwit]

Build a wall around Tokyo, I am talking an Escape from New York size wall.

[Taka-Okami]

The 'Olympics' should be cancelled and the corrupt IOC disbanded.

[matsuki]

Seems like Tanaka in Tokyo didn't upload his fax of his excel report to NEXCO. I think the detour etc routes are borked. (or at least they were)

I almost ran over an asshole tollboth jiji's on the other side of honshu on thursday. Was redirected around the Olympic pandemic zone when driving out of Tokyo but the fares seemed normal and avoiding the 1,000 additional toll so I was fine with that. When I arrived at my exit, in the etc lane, the toll both jiji jumped out in front of my truck...W....T...F.....slam on my brakes, doggies and misc bounce to the front of the cab...and this asshole demands my etc card. He started claiming it was a bad card and unreadable. Runs it through his machine in the booth and starts telling me it's a bad card, suggesting I'm using a fraudulent etc card. (it's a new card but I've been using it for a week without issue, I ask if my new license plates could be the issue but he insists the card is defective) after 15 mins and a line of cars behind me, they hand me a receipt that is double the normal toll and try to send me on my way. I start to protest the price and get assaulted by asshole jiji #2 and directed into their parking lot. My guess at the time is my etc 2.0 discounts were not applied but they claim no discounts are being applied at all during the Olympics and the receipt price is correctly. Later that night I realize my glassed must have flown out off my lap and fallen out of the vehicle during that mess, pull out the receipt to call and hope they aren't pulverized by now. No glasses found (fuuuuck) but now they are demanding me come back and hand over money....apparently jiji #1 handed me a "cash" receipt instead of charging my etc card. The clusterfuck has entered the next stage of entropy. I told them to fuck off. Not sure what will come of that. The further detoured drive back (with blurred vision) was dangerous and terrible but etc functioned properly so like I said at the beginning, seems like the etc detour gate wasn't set up properly.

[Taro Toporific]

I almost ran over an asshole tollboth jiji's on the other side of honshu on thursday. Was redirected around the Olympic pandemic zone when driving out of Tokyo... seems like the etc detour gate wasn't set up properly.

You have to remember that the tollbooth jijis are suffering brain damage from long-term CO exposure. In the days before the ETC system, I had to argue daily that my Handicap Menkyo /障害者免許 (for 50% off on tolls) was possible for a gaijin to even have.

Taro-handicap copy.jpg

[Grumpy Gramps]

You have to remember that the tollbooth jijis are suffering brain damage from long-term CO exposure. In the days before the ETC system, I had to argue daily that my Handicap Menkyo /障害者免許 (for 50% off on tolls) was possible for a gaijin to even have.

That's brutal! Definitely reduced brain function there. One of these jijis asked me once, if that 1000 yen bill I gave him, was Japanese money... Luckily, nowadays we have ETC. The friendly aunty in that card reader seems to be way more intelligent than that.

[Coligny]

Feeling your pain… the same category of fossils that gave me my illegal-illegal parking ticket…

[matsuki]

You have to remember that the tollbooth jijis are suffering brain damage from long-term CO exposure. In the days before the ETC system, I had to argue daily that my Handicap Menkyo /障害者免許 (for 50% off on tolls) was possible for a gaijin to even have.

That's brutal! Definitely reduced brain function there. One of these jijis asked me once, if that 1000 yen bill I gave him, was Japanese money... Luckily, nowadays we have ETC. The friendly aunty in that card reader seems to be way more intelligent than that.

There is probably some truth to that. My etc 2.0 was intended to link with a navi....my navi does not have said link so no aunty voice to annoy me at all. It just beeps.

Feeling your pain… the same category of fossils that gave me my illegal-illegal parking ticket…

I imagine the akamisoland jiji's have the same amount of slurred inakaben that makes communication "difficult." Was like talking to a wall.

[matsuki]

A visually impaired Paralympian has been left with injuries that will take about two weeks to heal after being hit by a Toyota Motor autonomous bus running in the athletes' village, police said Friday.

The Paralympian, Japanese judoka Aramitsu Kitazono, competing in the men's 81-kilogram division, will miss his match scheduled for Saturday, his coach said.

The bus was turning right at an intersection in the village in Tokyo when it hit the 30-year-old who was walking on a pedestrian crossing around 2 p.m. on Thursday, police said.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Tokyo ... t-of-match

This got (unsuprisingly) less coverage than you'd think...

[Grumpy Gramps]

I think, it has a lot to do with the sloppiness of today's IT folks. "Go fast, break things", "there is no software without bugs" and such great brain farts to cut corners or excuse one's inabilities. They're probably also pushed by deadlines and can't produce good or even mediocre craftsmanship, even if they wanted to. And a lot of them don't give a shit anyway.

So this poor blind man was just an alpha/beta tester and what happened was a simple bug, which might or might not be fixed depending on budget.

[matsuki]

Not sure "Go fast" fits here, these things are mind numbingly slow. Toyota seems to be claiming it was "under manual control" but it's so silly when you consider that this is supposedly Toyota's "Level 4" Autonomy. My guess is you're probably right about not meeting the deadline (a year late!) and so the need for "drivers" was a necessity and this is a case of Japan's lack of software prowess being exposed.

Meanwhile Tesla's full self driving is in Level 2 beta (beta as in TESTING - not available to those outside beta testers) is getting bashed and blamed for all kinds of weirdness in the news....only for months later be vindicated that it was not in installed/in use at the time of crashes where it was falsely blamed for driver assery.

FSDbeta 10.0 is about to drop but the current version is already lightyears ahead of putting around a closed course at 1km/h and running over blind people...

[Grumpy Gramps]

"Go fast, break things" is not meant to mean the cars, but the programming process.

Looking at the display behind the wheel in your video, that system still seems to have a lot of lag. It shows oncoming traffic, once it has already passed. So as you said, it's probably still a very early beta. There is likely still a long way, until self driving cars can be trusted, ideally even offroad.

[matsuki]

"Go fast, break things" is not meant to mean the cars, but the programming process.

I'm familiar with the saying, was just making a joke about those slow Toyotas.

Looking at the display behind the wheel in your video, that system still seems to have a lot of lag. It shows oncoming traffic, once it has already passed. So as you said, it's probably still a very early beta. There is likely still a long way, until self driving cars can be trusted, ideally even offroad.

There seems to be less than a second lag on the display but it's probably just that, the display. What you see there is only a small section of the vectorspace the ai sees. This is version 9.2, most testers are on 9.3 now and 10.0 was released a couple hours ago. (They are iterating very very fast) Tesla basically got to a dead end with lidar and basically restarted from scratch with vision only. (They have more consistent data and accuracy with only the cameras) so it's only "very early" in the sense that it's an early iteration using only cameras. They also went from independent static image interpretation to combining the video data from all the cameras into this video vectorspace to make judgments there rather than independently. The beta is supposed to roll out to all users at like 10.3 so not likely as long off as you might think. Beta- meaning still level 2 where the driver needs to pay attention. The new neural net training hardware + all this real world beta testing data will likely lead to a proper trustworthy release by the end of next year. I don't agree with the suggesting of nixing the steering wheel on the next models but I share their confidence that the full self driving software will be ready by then.

Don't take my word for it though, this dude is in his element commenting on the recent "AI day" event:

[Grumpy Gramps]

They should do driverless rallies to beat the publicity drum a bit. Paris -> Dakar, or Peking -> Paris, Mille Miglia or something. That would also show, how these cars behave overland, through deserts, jungle and river crossings etc. If you want the people to trust in driverless cars, that's the way to go IMO. And it would be fun. I'd watch it every day

[Buraku]

Former Tokyo Olympics official Takahashi granted bail in bribery case: Report
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/fo ... es-3168241

Japanese say Olympic Games was ‘waste of money’ as budget blowout rankles a year later
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economic ... year-later

A corruption scandal surrounding last year's Tokyo Games has damaged Japan's bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics
https://sports.inquirer.net/490352/toky ... -difficult

Tokyo Olympics scandal makes Sapporo bid to host 2030 Winter Olympics difficult, says Hokkaido governor
https://www.firstpost.com/world/tokyo-o ... 17901.html