I woke up early this morning, and here are some of the things I read:
Face of poverty ages in rapidly graying Japan
What is left after Gosuke Kakizaki’s 73 years of life as a magazine typesetter turned failed businessman turned penniless retiree is contained in two small rooms of a gray public housing complex far from the glittery core of this city. A white teakettle, a few stacks of books and a little TV set remain, as do mounted photographs from the hiking trips he stopped taking about three years ago.
[…]
“I can’t afford transportation, film for my camera or the photo-developing fees for such trips anymore,” said the soft-spoken Kakizaki, who is long divorced and has only sporadic contact with his two adult children. “The photos are all I have left. I can barely afford to feed myself now.”
I want to adopt a poor, elderly Japanese person. You know, just get a decent little house over there and have the oldster live in one of the rooms. I’d cook for them and clean and help them indulge in their hobbies. Wouldn’t that be sweet? :)
New Babylon 5 episodes, straight to DVD (via Slashdot)
I don’t think I really have to say anything about this that isn’t already said on AICN. (Except a total side note: when Monica’s trying to convince Chandler to invite his father to the wedding in Friends, Chandler mentions that his father “had sex with Mr. Garibaldi”. That line always confuses me, whenever I hear it ;>)
ExtremeTech reviews the Zero Tension Mouse (also via Slashdot). Man, that thing looks awesome. I don’t think I’d heard of a vertical mouse before, but the idea intrigues me. (I’m also interested in the idea of split keyboards with either side at an angle, or attached to the arms of a chair, or both…)
And, finally…