Notices by Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social)

"...for hundreds of years these imaginary creatures have been fantastically useful for thinking about science and the humanities. For physicists, the most famous demon was dreamed up by James Clerk Maxwell in 1867..."
https://physicsworld.com/a/meet-the-demons-four-mythical-creatures-that-inhabit-science/
#ThoughtExperiment #Gedanken #demons

Just play it cool, nobody's noticed so far, blending right in, you've got this...

Musing about "coups" quickly moved on to "coup de grâce", but got sidetracked to "glacé cherries" and thence to "coupes glacées"...which seem more inviting than getting heads lopped off...probably.
https://www.cuisineaz.com/diaporamas/15-coupes-glacees-irresistibles-a-faire-cet-ete-5177/interne/1.aspx
#CoupesGlacées

Infection status
Released Aug 7, 2026.
- As of period from July 27 - Aug 2, 2026 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 1.7
Change from prev. week +0.17
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001734742.pdf
🔸15th wave
Saga at 5.29, Tokyo at 0.41, Akita at 0.68, Hokkaido at 0.27, Okinawa at 0.86, #Shimane at 6.3

#Influenza monitoring paused until Sept
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001697528.pdf

#CovidIsNotOver
#Japan

RE: https://rssfeed.media/@abcfeeds/117040309962314010

Could be a copyright consideration (as well as the ad agency being tone deaf), but found it strange that INPEX chose the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down" (ロンドン橋は) in its current brand image TV commercial "INPEXは何している"(What is INPEX up to?) in Japan.🙄

Body temperature back to normal after peaking at 38.4C yesterday morning.
Stomach cramps dissipated after keeping hydrated, taking seirogan (正露丸) pills, and keeping guts warmed with a kairo (懐炉). Lost a couple of kilos, but nothing worse. (RIP Tama Zoo lions).

Thunderbirds March
Composer: Barry Gray
Performed by KAGUYA158Electone on the YAMAHA Electone ELS-03X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prdP6qur944
🔸Awesome that the original Barry Gray Orchestra performance can be faithfully reproduced on a single instrument.

"Japan schools flooded with machine-generated work as research shows AI saps thinking skills"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260731/p2a/00m/0na/010000c
🔸Thinking requires effort and motivation. Can see the temptation of waving a "magic wand", but ending up with a population growing up without critical skills is worrying.

@David
More namahage (なまはげ) vibes than being called to the principal's office?

Forecast for Tokyo's max temperature today is 29℃, a drop of about 6 degrees from yesterday (2 Aug 2026) .
Hoping it'll aid recovery from the heat exhaustion which caused digestive problems. This morning's news show item called it "腸の砂漠化"(chō no sabakuka: intestinal desertification) and recommended eating kiwi fruit or water melon. Had worried that it was the onset of ileus again, so a little relief.
https://kunitachi-clinic.com/column/%E3%80%8C%E5%A4%8F%E3%81%AE%E4%BE%BF%E7%A7%98%E3%80%8D%E4%B8%BB%E3%81%AA%E5%8E%9F%E5%9B%A0%EF%BC%94%E3%81%A4%E3%81%A8%E5%AF%BE%E7%AD%96%E3%80%81%E8%85%B8%E3%81%AE%E7%A0%82%E6%BC%A0%E5%8C%96%E3%82%92/
#HeatExhaustion #腸の砂漠化 #KiwiFruit

Was under the impression that Chūshū no Meigetsu (中秋の名月: Mid-autumn Moon; Harvest Moon) took place in August, but found that it was 15th August in the Japanese Lunisolar Calendar(旧暦) which translates to 25th September in 2026.
Hoping that evening temperatures will have subsided by then so that watching the full moon won't be an endurance event akin to sitting in a stifling sauna😓
https://www.nao.ac.jp/astro/sky/2026/09-topics03.html
#月見

"Japan has officially associated to Horizon Europe, becoming the 23rd non-EU country to join the EU’s flagship research funding programme"
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/japan-finalises-joining-the-eus-flagship-research-programme-horizon-europe/4023981.article

Infection status
Released July 31, 2026.
- As of period from July 20 - July 26, 2026 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 1.53
Change from prev. week -0.59
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001730625.pdf
🔸15th wave
Saga at 5.13, Tokyo at 0.27, Akita at 0.6, Hokkaido at 0.16, Okinawa at 0.66, #Ehime at 6.97

#Influenza monitoring paused until Sept
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001697528.pdf

#CovidIsNotOver
#Japan

The plot thickens on the Fascist Frog's donations directly & indirectly from George Cottrell, while police investigations continue.

There will come a point, as I have already suggested, when the Frog declares he cannot possibly take part in an by-election among such negative publicity & (he will say erroneous) claims about his & ReformUK's financing... and pull out of the Clacton by-election, leaving him free to take up his new job in the USA.

#NigelFarage #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/29/george-cottrell-transferred-2m-mother-beforer-reform-uk-donations

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs/117000692716570698

I never, ever use apps if there is a web mobile version...Apps give corporations control over you.

"...ispace and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries signed an agreement for the launch of ispace’s Mission 3 in 2028 on an H3 rocket"
"Mission 3 will be the first flight of ispace’s new Ultra lander design"
https://spacenews.com/h3-to-launch-next-ispace-lunar-lander-mission/
#ispace #MHI #H3rocket #MoonLander #Japan

#bubblewatch update:

Analysis of current outstanding investment MBS (Mortgage Backed Securities) debt showing huge losses (in the hundreds of billions) from 2022 to present.

> US might be sitting on a TIME BOMB!! https://albygetho.substack.com/p/us-might-be-sitting-on-a-time-bomb

> The greatest financial risk from the current #AI investment cycle is unlikely to come from a single company defaulting. Instead, it may emerge through a gradual deterioration in the credit chain that has developed around AI infrastructure.

#bubble #economy

Found phone had logged a call yesterday from a unknown +1 (877) xxx xxxx number.
Web search showed that it came from a toll-free US number and was very likely a scam call, so added number to the blocking list.
Also found on the log a call from a Japanese free-dial number in May which may or may not have come from a polling company, so added that to the blocking list, too.
Feel phones are a necessary evil (in case of emergencies) so mine generally lives at the bottom of my bag. No love lost.

"Go Faster Stripes – Do they really work?"
https://www.cornucopia.co.uk/go-faster-stripes-do-they-really-work/
🔸GFS came up whilst musing about why some Japanese politicos seem to hanker after nuclear subs when "(m)odern non-nuclear submarines are potentially stealthier than nuclear submarines"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air-independent_propulsion
🔸Masking reactor heat (and cooling pump noise) would seem a disadvantage compared to a battery-powered system, let alone maintenance and safety concerns🤔
#StatusSymbol

"M7.1 earthquake strikes southwestern Japan"
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20260728_15/
🔸Probably will be a few days before extent of casualties and damage becomes clear. Still a lot of noise in news reports.