Khan Academy

source: Khan Academy.org

Do you know the Khan Academy? The site is providing free education on the web. They mainly have math and science classes. 

In the beginning, Mr. Khan was teaching math to his cousins living in remote locations through the web. He made his lectures online and uploaded it on YouTube. These videos became very popular and it was the start of the organization the Khan Academy.

By the way, I've learned some classes on line. It's very useful for me because of the next reasons. They are anytime, anywhere, my own pace, and reasonable fee etc. Of course, we can have discussions some issues, too. In general I agree with on line education. Still, I think school has other many benefits.

How about you, what do you think about on line education?

Kiva

source : kiva.org

I made two loans. It's my 53rd Kiva loan.

Moyai statue at Kamata by Niijima

Moyai statue is placed at Kamata station. Shibuya station has also a Moyai statue. I think the statue in Shibuya is more popular than in Kamata. These Moyai statues were presented by Niijima which is one of Izu islands(伊豆諸島).

The word "Moyai" is a Niijima's dialect word meaning "work together". The statue was made based on Moai statues of Easter islands because of it sounds like Moyai.

Kindle with ads

source : amazon.com

Kindle is a popular electronic reader.

Amazon.com introduced Kindle with ads. Sponsored ads are displayed as a screensaver or at the bottom of home menu. The regular price for Wi-Fi-only Kindle is $139 but if it is Kindle with ads is only $114. It’s $25 lower.

I think the ads model is very attractive for users because we can get a device more inexpensively.

If Amazon has more sponsors and displays the ads which are changing in real-time, the ads model is useful in expanding Kindle. Other device maker may follow the ads model in the near term. 

Father and Son by Bernard Matemera

This work's title is "Father and Son". The artist Bernard Matemera was born in Zimbabwe.

While I was walking along a side walk, the work suddenly came to my view and the face made me very surprised. Hmm, it has a very impressive face.

By the way, you can see more of his works on google image, they are the works of great individuality.

friend from high school

Last week, I met some friends from high school because one of them moved to other prefecture. Our last meeting was long time ago.

After we graduated from high school, that was more than 10 years ago, we already went on our separate ways. Some friends were already married and had their children. Some are still single including me and others are moved to different places.

I wonder what will happen in the next ten years. Definitely, no one can tell about the future. Even though life is too hard, I want to experience it.

well-established Taiyaki store

Naniwaya is famous for Taiyaki which is fish-shaped cake filled with red bean past. The store was established in 1909 and invented Taiyaki. I went there for the first time and I ate real Taiyaki. It was really great tasting.

Johnson & Johnson

There was an article about Johnson & Johnson.
They will pay $70 million to settle U.S. and U.K. allegations because they bribed doctors in Europe and paid kickbacks in Iraq.

I was surprised the news. As you know, Johnson & Johnson is one of the most-admired companies and famous for “Our Credo”. When I studied business ethics, the class pointed J&J as a good example.

What is going their credo now? I continue to watch about J&J.

Grameen bank

Source: Nobelprize.org

As you know, Grameen Bank is providing micro-credit loan for fighting poverty.
Muhammad Yunus lost the case in the Supreme Court to remain as the Chief of the Grameen Bank.

I'm sorry to hear about the news because it seems to have political reasons.
But I think given his age of 70 years old, he should try to continue his advocacy as an individual because Grameen Bank needs to have a successor.

Visit grave

I visited my mentor grave. The mentor affected me about my way of thinking.

By the way, Sakura is blooming.

Glory by Taro Okamoto

This work is made by Taro Okamoto as requested by his mother's admires. His mother, Kanoko Okamoto,  was a novel writer. So, the purpose of the monument praise for Kanoko Okamoto.

The monument is located near the Futako Shinchi station where she was born.

India's population reaches 1.12 billion

According to the article, population of India is growing to more than 1.12 billion. It seems the number is about 17 percent of the world population.

As you know, China has the largest population. I made a chart of economic index comparing India and China. In this decade, GDP widen between India and China. And the current GDP of India is close to that of China a decade ago. I think India would have good opportunities, if they attract outside investments.