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| FreakLabs Does A Video Tour Of Akihabara | | Print | |
| Written by Akiba | |
| Wednesday, 20 October 2010 | |
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I haven't updated the blog in awhile, but that doesn't mean things aren't busy here in the lab. I recently did a video project for Tokyo Hackerspace on a guide to Akihabara . Surprisingly enough, it made the rounds on HackaDay , Make , Slashdot , and Engadget . It was pretty crazy and I completely didn't expect that kind of response. It just shows that there isn't a lot of information on what really goes on in the back streets of Akihabara. Most of the shops are pretty hard to find and I get so many requests for a tour of Akihabara that we decided to do the video. It originally started as a way to help other hackerspace members find components for projects that they're working on, but I'm glad that there was such a good response globally. The best thing that can come out of the project is that there will be more awareness about Akihabara and the small shops will be able to do more business. The area is such a treasure chest, but has been neglected in recent years with all of the big box consumer electronics stores that have been popping up. However there's still a hard core fan base for the shops in the area and with a global audience, I hope that the number and variety of shops can increase. Here's a couple of press clippings and a shot at Patrick (the cameraman's) head. There have also been some complaints that we moved too fast through all the products but most of the shops don't allow photography so we had to do it guerilla style in order to get the footage. Here's a picture I took of Patrick's head as he was setting up: And here's some press clippings: 
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Comments (3)
  written by Akiba, December 23, 2010
We meet up every tuesday so any of those times should be fine. I'm in Akihabara pretty often as well, but if you want to go with us, its probably best to schedule it so that we can set aside time. Otherwise, I'm pretty much just there to grab what I need and then head back to my lab.
For the Tuesday meetings, its probably best to check it out in January or so. Since its almost the end of the year, turnout will probably be pretty light. report abuse
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 written by Rick Knowles, December 23, 2010
Thanks. Will certainly check it out in january. Starting 4th or 11th ?
Will probably be going to Akizuki and Sengoku today (those places are truly awesome, thanks so much for pointing them out). I'll introduce myself if I see you. One last point: am playing with an arduino project to simulate a universal remote, triggered via zigby (mainly so I can control aircons, TVs, lights etc using TouchOSC from my iphone). The protocols are of course different for every remote, so decoding timing specs with scant documentation is tricky: any hints on good analysis tools for this kind of thing ? report abuse
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I've been going to akihabara for nearly 10 years about 3 times a month on average (and now my office is there) yet I was still amazed at how much gold I had never seen that was in your tour. It was pretty embarrassing realizing how little I actually knew the place. Thanks for opening my eyes.
Would love to join for one of the THS meetings - when is the next one ? Have been experimenting with arduinos and PIC programming recently (trying to get my head around gnu toolchain for avr), so anything along that line would be great.