Enjoyed my annual ski trip to Nozawa Onsen again this year. However, with the temperatures rising over the past few days, the snow was melting and the conditions weren't that great.
It seems like bearish narratives and articles have completely taken over the crypto space recently.
Weโre seeing a classic case of Greshamโs Law in the AI video space:
'Bad video drives out good.'
In the recent general election, the party advocating for 'Changing politics through technology' managed to increase its seats.
While they are still nowhere near the LDPโs scale, itโs an interesting shift to watch.
team-mir.ai
โItโs freezing in Yokohama and weโre having heavy snow.
Itโs pretty rare to see this much snow in this area.
Blaming the BOJโs hawkish turn for the crypto drop seems misplaced.
If funding costs and JGB volatility were the main drivers, other asset classes would be hit just as hard.
Right now, the weakness is too specific to crypto to blame Japanese rates.
Winter illuminations at Tokyo German Village.
"SAM Audio"
Really eager to get my hands on it and see how it works.
about.fb.com/news/2025/12...
Pixel Watch promotion in Japan is also interestingโit's still highlighting the command: "Play music to get me motivated for my workout."
But, this shows that voice commands aren't widely used in Japan (which is why they feature it with a new product).
Development is tough.
This video only shows opening curtains, turning on the TV, adjusting the thermostat, and managing lighting.
I think it makes users wonder if there's any real difference between Alexa and Alexa+.
And it's the gap between developers and users.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=46On...
I'll keep experimenting.
Next up: more digital music terms and pairing audio with abstract/non-standard visuals (not people, scenery, or animals).
Sora 2 is great for a short break, anyway!
3. It feels like that audio prompts are just being translated into visual prompts internally (Storyboard suggests this).
Consequently, aiming for high originality with audio prompts alone is simply inefficient right now.
2. Inserting slightly technical terms for chord, rhythm, or harmony generates instructional videos about the term.
(I guess AI likely knows the term but hasn't learned enough visuals associated with it.)
I've spent a month on Sora 2 audio prompts.
1. Generated audio/visuals are quite patternized regarding instrument, genre, mood, BPM, and vocal cues.
It's December, so it's time to chill out with "Jazz24", just like every year.
www.jazz24.org
Still running various tests using the "AUDIO genre: xxx" prompt with Sora2.
ambient
drone
minimal
orchestral
symphonic narrative
lofi
hiphop
trap
house
techno
trance
future bass
metal
AI's bias is definitely showing its true colors, lol.
When I use audio prompts with Sora 2, it becomes clear that the AI's concept of "sound" and "music" is also quite biased.
With Sora 2, visual prompts offer good reproducibility, but audio prompts have lower consistencyโthough the results are generally in the ballpark.
Sora2 contents that would have gotten more likes two weeks ago are barely getting any traction now.
This suggests both higher overall quality and a saturation of similar content.
Why are there three?
Figuring out the prompt structure for content persistence in Sora 2 videos. The next challenge is optimizing the use of cuts, transitions, and overall direction for better results.
โTook a break and stopped by the YAMAHA cafe in Yokohama Minato Mirai.
It was fun to get hands-on with various instruments like guitars, drums, and violins in their trial space!
retailing.jp.yamaha.com/shop/yokoham...
Digital sound from Sora 2.
Theme: "motion against natureโs vastness"
Digital audio from Sora 2.
It feels like there's still plenty of room for improvement after some testing.
I'm testing what kinds of sounds I can define and generate with Sora 2.
Leaving your PC unattended for half an hour at a cafe... I truly have to admire the guts of people who do that.
There are too many Starbucks in Japan, sometimes even three in a single shopping complex! But you can find lots of quiet spots with quality coffee for a comparable price
Big thumbs up for the Hoshino Coffee near Tokyo station that I visited last week
www-yaechika-com-e.athp.transer.com/shop/sp442/
There's a common perception in Japan that the government, not the Bank of Japan, is the main actor responsible for tackling rising prices.
No way.
Google is expanding its coding services for subscribers. This move clearly shows a sense of crisis that users might leave if they don't focus more on this area.
blog.google/technology/d...
Voice AI has two big problems: background noise and public use. The solution might be a good directional mic.
I'm eyeing "SKYTED 320", but I'm not sure if it can handle whisper-level voice recognition for AI. I need to find some solid reviews before I commit.
www.skyted.io#section-bene...
