Totally off-topic and via Slashdot, a high-speed travelator is on trial in Paris till October. BBC News gives diagrams and a report. People not used to it can get hurt, and you have to keep your feet flat on the ground. Slashdot also links to Segway, albeit without a picture of President Bush falling off it.

I do like reading about new technology in weblogs. Joi Ito had a nice radar detector recently. I actually need the opposite – a device that will tell me when German drivers are approaching from behind and I have to go over the speed limit if I’m not going to be subjected to rude gestures.I found another Japanese weblog devoted to gadgets recently – Kokoro.

While looking for Kokoro, I just found Gizmodo, which describes itself as follows:

bq. Gizmodo is a fast-growing web magazine, dedicated to everything related to gadgets, gizmos, and cutting-edge consumer electronics. Our influential audience (see below) stops by frequently to check out the latest news, reviews and recommendations for products including laptops, cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras, home entertainment and more.

Actually, what I really wanted to say about Joi Ito was how it seems to encapsulate the feeling of blogs, that you get a glimpse of somewhere different through a guide you feel you know slightly. Recently he had a report on a trip to a hotel (I think), with photos of the countryside and fascinating streaming video of pounded rice being made. Although the quality of the video was not very good, it brought something totally foreign to life.