When I travel abroad, I often try to find his books. He’s popular enough for it to be possible, but not *hyper* popular, so it’s still a challenge. I failed in a few bookstores here, hopelessly lost. I started doubting if Lem was even read in Japan. Was *any* hard sci-fi?
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(I mean, look at these older trains on display at the museum. Those are some good-looking trains!)pic.twitter.com/cXJv1Vk1TN
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143. How confident you have to be in your train network that your caveat is possibly about arriving somewhere *earlier*!?pic.twitter.com/CTMJAXUjEZ
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144. There aren’t just millions of train toys. There are toys that are all about train infrastructure, like this car that transports train parts. <3pic.twitter.com/v6MsOaBsi9
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…or other toys for “boring” transit options. I’d be exactly the kind of kid that’d get excited about “Midtown ticket counter.”pic.twitter.com/BhI0HyxmmJ
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145. Speaking of transit infrastructure toys… here’s a gruesome dystopian vision that makes Cars feel like a kids movie.pic.twitter.com/OdBGvkMo5s
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148. How lucky you must be as a museum to get your mascot designed by Miyazaki!pic.twitter.com/fJsMSRLivs
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149. At the Gas Museum (sic!), gas range cookers that also look like faces.pic.twitter.com/7bCaxn5uO4
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150. (150!) This is a particularly Marcin-shaped mystery. I know this clock from my childhood. From Poland. I recreated it in JavaScript. I wrote about it (https://medium.com/the-outtake/the-clock-85e8e3a50e4b …). So why is it here, now, all over the place!?pic.twitter.com/ZakyxPAz23
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(Also, how likely it is for me to take two separate clock photos, on two different days, in two different cities, both at 10:26?)
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151. A cute relaxed kitten plus a cute pictogram of its startled Schrödinger counterpart.pic.twitter.com/MsUikSiTLu
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153. This ticket ordering machine had an impressively large touch screen.pic.twitter.com/w0vJq6ubaO
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154. I generally liked the convention of lighting up things where you’d insert cards/money or get something out. Not new, but more comprehensive and more elegant. (Some lights would pulsate like old PowerBooks/MacBooks.)pic.twitter.com/P8qAnzSN7r
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Some machines would (also) show a little diagram on the screen and point to the relevant parts.pic.twitter.com/efAd8KHVNs
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155. When things came out of the machine – for example an ATM – they would all come out at the same time, instead of sequentially. Here, it was really easy to grab my card and the receipt via one gesture.pic.twitter.com/Lj2nI0ZZlx
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156. If you’re asking “but can I *insert* more than one thing?” the answer is HOT DAMN YESSSSS. The machines encourage you to just put in the entire phat stack.pic.twitter.com/lxg3xfhjwU
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(If you’re also asking “Marcin, will this thread ever end?” my answer is I REALLY DON’T KNOW. The discoveries simply don’t seem to ever end.)
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157. For example, only just a few hours ago I discovered a new type of interaction. Instead of inserting a card or touching it a few times, this ticket machine asks you to place it on a mat for the duration of the transaction.pic.twitter.com/efbCA4zFz0
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158. Only yesterday, I discovered that as you approach a taxi, the driver can remotely open your door for you, and then do the same as you arrive. There are also many more automatic sliding doors around, even in little stores. Opening a “normal” door seems like a rarity.
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159. When you pay, even to a cashier, you don’t hand someone the money. You put it on a special tiny tray. It feels elegant and refined. (I went to a coffee shop really early and they didn’t put one out yet, and really scrambled, not wanting to do the transaction without it!)pic.twitter.com/kbag6n9c74
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160. Also, in bakeries and so on you’re supposed to just grab a tray and put your stuff directly on it? It was kind of weird. As you bring it all to the cashier, they transfer them onto a plate or basket for you, or into to-go bags. PLEASE TELL ME I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG.pic.twitter.com/kohGm8ngvs
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161. Two beautiful things in another bakery’s placard. One is a list indicating the presence of allergens (milk, peanuts, and so on). The other, and I miss it so much from Europe: the price with tax included! (Which is typically usually even the default here?)pic.twitter.com/kyivr1KBRi
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162. Speaking of beautiful… look at these manholes, even the tiny ones!pic.twitter.com/QfDIuRyugc
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And those above, in turns out, are the ones when they phone them in.pic.twitter.com/IaqaZV5D3m
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Because when they don’t phone them in… I seriously have no words.pic.twitter.com/zoxouAqCi6
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163. Amidst all the high-tech restrooms, it’s fun to see ones that are really old. Here is a cool retro hand soap dispenser, and a vintage flush handle that nevertheless already allows you to choose between a weak and a strong flush.pic.twitter.com/wnV7DLvQPC
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(By the way, no paper napkins or towels ever in restrooms! There are scant hand dryers, but I think many people just walk out with their hands wet…? Or are you supposed to carry a handkerchief?)
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164. Typography! From whatever little I understand, I believe Japanese writing system(s) have an unprecedented flexibility: they could go left to right, right to left, or top to bottom. Here’s an example from the side of a (modern) bus and a (vintage) tram.pic.twitter.com/QWeV1649e7
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