bonword comments

For people asking how much the seats cost: Each one is valued at 6000 yen. So, 3 seats = 18,000 yen and 200 seats = 1,200,000 yen.

For anyone who then says " how can seats cost that much!?": These are genuine leather deluxe-type seats. The are not the regular skinny sort but extra-cushion type with brass rivets, etc. The perpetrator, according to TV news, also admitted he had a leather fetish and would not steal vinyl seats.

For anyone hiking, I think we need to remember that there is always danger. Looking back on some of my hikes I now think how lucky we all were - it's easy to underestimate nature. This is double tragic - first because hikers died, and second because they were visiting Japan. My heartfelt condolences to their families. I am sorry for your loss.

I have no idea if they are using facial recognition software but JT readers may recall the article posted a while back about Hitachi kokusai electric's system that could compare a single face to 36 million others per second.

But perhaps they just focus on the shinkansen and airports at first as a method to close the net on the suspect?

Dear Town of Shimane,

Heard about your pantless problem. Heartfelt condolences. More than willing to help you out, please feel free to have the shocking art removed and relocated to my premises.

I'd be ever so happy if local business people spent money on objects of beauty in my area for all as opposed to just keeping it for themselves (which they are entitled to do).

Sincerely,

Funny caption contest begins....

"No no no, that's not how you hold the flag before burning it, spread it out more!"

Amazing!

The youtube app created no income for Youtube as it was ad-free.

So, who do you think wanted the youtube app removed? Apple, or Youtube? Expect to see a new official youtube app that you can install with one click.

For those moaning that Apple is taking away choices, well, I think you are wrong here. There will be more ways to look at youtube, just use the browser for example, which will not be a problem now that most of youtube will be HTML5....

One of the companies I work for posted the power consumed every day in front of the first floor elevator last summer. They managed to reduce power by over 40% compared to the year before. They did this by; 1) replacing all desktops with notebooks (about time), turning off one elevator out of four, unplugging the coffee machines in the cafeteria, disconnecting the hot air dryers and the seat warmers in the bathrooms and ensuring that there was no overtime (i.e., it got dark, go home). One building, 40% less power. Makes you wonder about waste.

If this is accurate then it's pretty amazing. I'd like to see more data on costs per appliance/gadget and see where the energy hogs are.

Should be charged. Should get maximum penalty. Should be disciplined at work or dismissed. If not dismissed then demoted.

If only his friend had accused him of being not kind enough instead of not tough enough. Imagine the havoc he would have created handing out flowers and holding open doors.

Time to slam the door on this punk. Born and raised in one of the more privileged countries in the world and he stabs a person because he wants to feel tough?

A lot of posters are assuming the thief took it to sell it.

What if it was a jealous and envious musician. A "second fiddle" so to speak (excuse the pun, but really, it was crying to be used).

Imagine it. You hate this guy, you hate the fact that he has a 16 million yen violin/bow and don't think he deserves it, in fact, he doesn't deserve you, you do, you deserve! So you take it.

Musicians are mad. I love them, but they are mad mad mad.

On another note, Word to Zichi, as always.

"We are surrounded by so much free energy, we need to use what we have and convert all our waste into power."

Exactly.

Answer this one question: Have we found a clean solution to nuclear waste?

The answer is no. Please google "nuclear waste and storage" for more info. From wikipedia "Of particular concern in nuclear waste management are two long-lived fission products, Tc-99 (half-life 220,000 years) and I-129 (half-life 17 million years), which dominate spent fuel radioactivity after a few thousand years. The most troublesome transuranic elements in spent fuel are Np-237 (half-life two million years) and Pu-239 (half-life 24,000 years".

Does anyone trust these guys to manage for 20 years, let alone 220,000 years?

I'm glad to hear that they caught him. Any word on who caught him and how? Was it a private citizen or was he caught by the police?

I'm seen one purse snatching myself and it happened so fast that none of us realized what it was to after the fact that the two punks (on a scooter) were way down the street. Furious!

Ted rules. My friends and I always download to our iPhones for our commutes. Great stuff.

There is documented proof that lack of empathy, killing of animals leads to more violent behavior. Anyone who cares to argue this point should first do research by googling "lack of empathy, killing of animals".

The fact that the cats were immobilized seem to indicate that someone captured them and then arranged for them to be killed while "immobilized". In other words, alive and trapped as the train came bearing down on them. To me, and this is only my opinion, this is a sign of someone very mentally sick and who could become a danger to other people.

The issue of stray cats is, in my opinion, not related to this issue and anyone bringing it up is merely deflecting attention to the main point; someone is deliberately capturing animals, trespassing on train tracks/property, immobilizing these animals and possibly watching them die. I think we can all agree this is someone who needs to be stopped.

I look forward to more details. 1) He killed them and placed them in the trunk 2) His family was killed as a lesson to him and he placed them in the trunk 3) ????

And I like the fact that it was his mother who filed the missing persons report. Shows she was concerned about the DIL and grandchild (or at least one of them).

I found this well written.

Here's a thought, how about all the money goes to the Tohoku victims? If one of us buys the winning ticket we get tax exemptions for life, and the winnings go to a randomly selected family in Tohoku? Everyone wins, the people who really need the money win, the people who won the ticket (who I presume have a job) win a nice tax benefit for life.

If he is messy in the car good - that means his DNA will be there.

I hope to see a story soon reporting that they catch this guy. I like the stories that have follow-up on crime and punishment.

I've said it before and probably will write it again; I stopped cycling because I felt that the other bicyclists were just too dangerous. Always felt safe with cars, but the bicyclists in this country really need mandatory training. Everyone would be better off.

Sympathies to the families of all involved. Better education of safety may have prevented this and countless other accidents.

Hmmmmm.......6.7 million in change....now I regret mocking that former PM for having 700 million in cash lying around the house and saying it was quite common of him...obviously I must rush to the bank, withdrawal my savings and leave it around my house if I wish to assimilate better.

I am sick to my stomach on reading this. Exactly how can someone hate a child? This man is not a man, he's an animal. I am normally against the death penalty but I think that in the case where someone willfully, deliberately does action to harm or kill a child, then I say spare nothing to punish this person.

As for the mother,I have to agree with some of the comments that she probably wouldn't have notice the problem. The acid was diluted and the child was being actively treated for a an eye condition. "his eye is not improving, continue medication" would have been the advice of the doctor probably. Poor mother. Poor child. But for the man? Nothing but contempt.

These "kids" need to be punished. I think all the posters to date can agree to this. Additionally, what is up with their parents? These little monsters are out at 3am, 4am and 5am? Seems to me that ankle monitors, house arrest (save for school) and the possibility of real jail time is needed. Society can either set these kids on the right and narrow path now, or see them as failures for the rest of their to-be pathetic and destructive lives.

I'm glad he is wearing UNIQLO. The founder of UNIQLO donated quite a lot of products immediately after the quake to the survivors. I'm happy to help corporations that practice good social responsibility. Of course I realize that the also get good PR from these actions, but, that doesn't take away from the fact that they did something that helped people.

What boggles my mind is that they don't actually have a plan already in place for errors like this. Every professional institute needs backup plans for disasters and emergencies...

If you bake cookies, you have to expect some to burn and cook more as a precaution. If you use computers, you have to expect some HD fatal error and always have a secondary hard disk If you give tests, you have to expect some errors to happen and have a backup plan.

If you run a nuclear plant you...oh wait

Why am I not surprised? Seems all rules in Japan are more guidelines than anything (which is not a bad thing as flexibility is good in some cases). But this seems silly.

I hope he was not in a police uniform at the time and was just dressed as a civilian. If in a uniform he deserves to be punished beyond the regular penalty. Police, as symbols of authority, who violate the law are doing harm to society beyond that of regular criminals.

This man deserves jail time, very long jail time for the harm he has done.

These "people" need to be caught and punished. Cruelty to animals is often followed up by more acts on much larger scales.