NoobowSystems Lab.

Today is a Special Day For You (English)
    Passing the halfway of the average expected life, a birthday cake may not be so much welcomed as before; rather, family and friends who celebrate the day is truly the gold. And if those people who really understand me secretly prepare a very special surprise birthday cake only for me, it is indeed a special day.
Town of Zero Gravity (Japanese)

    As soon as we entered the town, we saw many signs and posters saying "Declaring a Town of Zero Gravity". Hey, this will be fun! At the city center we even saw a poster of "Zero Gravity Festival"! How would it look like? Folk dance would be spherical, not a conventional circle dance on the ground. Wondered how to cook various snack foods such as fried noodle, as noodle would not stay on the hot plate. Shaved ice could be bigger than any imagination. Ah, as we proceed though this town, our faces became rounder because of the higher blood pressure in our heads. But first, we needed to finish our can coffee; if we kept it, fluid would escape from the opened can and be afloat inside of our van. Could it really happen in this Town of Zero Gravity, Kamisunagawa Town in Hokkaido? (Aug. 2001)
The Voice Museum (Japanese)

    The Voice Museum, located in Toyama Prefecture, has a great collection of audio and visual history. Starting from Edison, we can view the advent of many new technologies which made our lives richer and happier; lamps, vacuum tubes, radios, phonograph, movies, TVs, cinema projectors. Huge collection of radios is mostly repaired and ready to play order. You can also listen beautiful sound of full mechanical phonographs and homebrew vacuum tube amplifiers. (Jan. 2001)
Okushiri Revived (English)

    10:17pm, July 12, 1993. Magnitude 7.8 earthquake in northern Japan hit a remote island called Okushiri. Powerful tidal wave, or Tsunami, immediately followed with virtually no time to escape.
    Record breaking wave height measured up to 23 meters. The southern most part of the island called Aonae area was instantly demolished by the tsunami - 192 buildings were completely destroyed and 198 human lives were lost. Within an hour a TV camera aboard a helicopter started to transmit the disaster scene to the viewers including myself, horrified and made feeling helpless.
Convenience Store Neutrino (Japanese)

    When I was in California I heard that great discovery made at Super Kamiokande , but I wasn't sure what the true value of the discovery was. I made a stop here at Kamioka, on my Golden Week vacation. The day before at the spa resort hotel, I spent hours on reading a book about elementary particle physics and the history of universe. I didn't expect in Kamioka, however, to discover a convenience store named Neutrino!! (May.2000)
Exhibition of Japanese Old Radios (Japanese)

    In August 1999, An Antique radio exhibition was held in Shimonita Town, just 20 minutes drive from Tomioka. Mr. Suzuki, who is a professional wood crafter, started collecting old radios some years ago. Collection includes early wooden model to later plastic model, mainly from post war era. Not only radios but phonographs and vacuum TV sets were displayed. Everybody enjoyed these radios once upon a time, however little survived, because of the Japanese house size limitation. Typical house could not afford enough space to hold unused items.
    Devastated by the war, Japanese radios were usually in very low quality compare to foreign countries during and after the war. Working hard to catch up the foreign standards, and quickly absorbing and improving transistor technology, helped by low labor cost, Japan succeeded to be the biggest quality radio manufacturer. During this time, however, Japan seemed to have lost the flavor of heart-warming, hand crafted radio around which every family gathered and enjoyed a cozy time together. (Photo Aug.1999, Page posted on Feb.2000)
Virginia City Radio Museum (Japanese)

    Located in Virginia City, Nevada, the Radio Museum has a great collection of antique radios and communication equipment. Now renamed to Western Historic Radio Museum .
    (Visited Aug. 1996, Page posted Jan.2000)
Camera Obscura San Francisco (Japanese)

    Standing atop a pacific coast cliff, Camera Obscura is a huge camera that people can enter inside and watch the image projected on a parabolic screen. Picture without any aid of electronics is surprisingly vivid.
Amboy, California (Photo, Japanese)

    Once upon a time the road brought dreams: Route 66.
    (Uploaded on July, 1999)
Pyramid Lake, Nevada (Photo, Japanese)

    Ignoring the route suggested by my trustworthy navigation system, the shortcut I choose was a straight, flat and moist dirt road. Maintained 55 MPH constantly for nearly an hour on the road without any sign of human habitat, it was getting dark. Fuel gauge showed a little bit above marginal.
    Then the navigation system automatically recalculated a new route, suggested to continue on for another 35 miles. If nothing wrong happens, we could make it. How dependable the Chevy V6 was, which kept smooth and steady idling. (Uploaded on May. 1999)
Be ready for Y2K (Photo, Japanese)

    9 months remaining to the year 2000, Silicon Valley was busy preparing for the event. A computer system audit company had given a Y2K readiness certificate to beer served at a local brewery in Mountain View.
    (March, 1999)
Extraterrestrial Highway (Photo, Japanese)

    NV375, dubbed as Extraterrestrial Highway, stretches along the Area 51, US Air Force's most secret site. Over the horizon flying a black spot, could it be a new type stealth fighter, or ....?
Illuminations in Silicon Valley (Japanese)
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Copyright (C) NoobowSystems Lab. San Jose, California 1999.
Copyright (C) NoobowSystems Lab. Tomioka, Japan 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.
http://www.noobowsystems.org/
May. 23, 1999 Created.
Feb. 13, 2000 Revised.
May. 14, 2000 Revised.
Jan. 07, 2001 Revised.
Oct. 07, 2001 Revised.
Jan. 05, 2002 Revised; Added English comments for each page.
Apr. 14, 2002 Revised.
Sep. 11, 2004 Revised; added Turbo Falcon.
Jan. 02, 2007 Reformatted.
Feb. 22, 2009 Relocated turbofalcon and fatburningengine to vehicles.
Jul. 30, 2009 Reformatted. Adapted Japanese text rendering behavior of Google Chrome 2.0.
Mar. 28, 2010 Reformatted. Netscape Navigator compatibility.
Jul. 27, 2011 Revised.