Keynote speech on PyCon JP 2014

I gave keynote speech on PyCon JP 2014 4 days ago.

Here is the movie recorded, but it is in Japanese and simultaneous translation was not recorded: CH10 Opening~Keynote: Hirokazu Nishio - YouTube

So I translated my slide and added explanations. Here is the English version: PyConJP Keynote Speech (English version)

If you are interested in, here is the original Japanese version: PyConJP Keynote Speech (Japanese version)

You are welcome to ask any questions!

What is better to call "hand-copying sample codes"?

If someone is learning new language and he/she feel difficult to understand textbook, I recommend to type small sample codes in tutorial by hands.

This learning methodology is called 'Shakyo' in Japanese, named after a practice of hand-copying sutras. (Sutras for Buddhist is similar to the Bible for Christian, see Sutra copying - Wikipedia)

However there are some people with opposite view. The original Shakyo practice include to empty his/her mind. That means Shakyo as programming practice must include to empty mind. Hand-copying sample code in empty mind is not good practice for learning programming, we should think a lot.

I think the word Shakyo causes misunderstanding. But I have no idea to replace it. Do you have any idea for that? Please tell me your opinion.

My book was translated and published in Chinese!

Here is the page of the book: 人民邮电出版社优秀图书：代码之髓：编程语言核心概念 图灵程序设计丛书.

The book was published in Japanese on 2013, published in Korean on this March. If you are interested in English version, please check this page: Programming Langueges: Their Core Concepts.

"Process to make an idea real is simple labor work..."

Takashi Murakami said "Process to make an idea real is simple labor work. So you should check by yourself carefully if the theme is worth to do labor work"

I found the quote on 2011 and tweeted in Japanese. Curiously it was retweeted in these days by a lot of people, so I translated it now.

Translation of my book is in progress

Hi, it is Dr. NISHIO Hirokazu. I published a book on April 2013 in Japan. It was the bestseller in Amazon programming category and it was the bestseller among computer related books published in 2013.

Here is the table of contents: Programming Langueges: Their Core Concepts

It was translated to Korean. Now the book is been translated to English!

You can read drafts of chapter 1 and 2 on GitHub: https://github.com/nishio/langbook

Long time no see!

Hi, it's Dr. NISHIO. Long time no see. I haven't wrote entries in English for three years. I'll have keynote speech on PyCon JP on mid-September. I'd like to use this opportunity to relaunch my blog and then increase output in English!

Extra information about QUMA

Hi, it is Dr. NISHIO Hirokazu. Did you already read Quma: 3D Motion-Capture Figure For 3D CG Production (Video) | TechCrunch or The Washington Post? I'm very glad to see a lot of people are interested in the project. Unfortunately, there are less information in English than in Japanese. I'll write about them.



Pronunciation
COO of 'cool' + MA of 'mama'. It is similar to the word 'KUMA'(bear) in Japanese. It is because early prototype was put in teddy-bear skin.

How much? It must be expensive!

There are no official announcement about the price. However, SoftEther said "the selling price will be between 10000 JPY and 20000 JPY" on 2009/10/30, with showing QUMA prototype. (ref. 1) In my humble opinion, it will cost much, 2 or 3 times. However it couldn't possibly imagine that it costs over 100000 JPY. Again, it is my humble opinion, not an official one.

About contributers

SoftEther said CELSYS、ViVienne, 3D-GAN and University of Tsukuba are the contributor of the project. (ref. 2)

CELSYS is selling software to make illustrations, comics and animations. It is nice if those soft supports QUMA directly. It seems possible.

ViVienne got a subsidy to a 3D-related project from MEXT(Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) (ref. 3). SoftEther got the subsidy form MEXT too. SoftEther colocates with Tsukuba Univ. It seems those three players are cooperating tightly.

Additionaly, the figure designer ASAI Masaki tweeted about his contribution. (ref. 4) He is very popular as a creator of figma, action figures with exchangeable faces and modules.

Modularity
SoftEther said, the joints of QUMA are modular and can be re-assemble, so you can make various animals like camels, snakes etc, not only human. In my humble opinion, no one use snakes as snakes, but tentacles. ;)

Reference
(ref. 1) 3Dキャラの動きをぬいぐるみで操作、個人用モーションキャプチャ -INTERNET Watch
(ref. 2) 報道発表資料 - 開発中の「QUMA」技術を応用した 3D モーションキャプチャ装置を公開
(ref .3) IPA：2007年度第I期「未踏ユース」採択概要
(ref. 4) http://twitter.com/#!/masakiapsy/status/93823167306530816