Imagine Slate columnist Daniel Gross's surprise when he arrived at the Nikkei offices in Japan and was greeted by businessmen, sans ties. To appear so casual in the workplace is almost sacrilege in Japan, and yet here it was, happening.

But why?

Simple: It's the environment, stupid. And ironically, in a country obsessed with technology and where "business casual" is rarely allowed, it's a low-tech, remove-your-tie solution to the energy consumption problem that's ultimately to blame for Gross's, well, gross and sweaty Japanese experience.

You see, in 2005, Environment Minister Yuriko Koike, a woman who had once had perspiration aspirations for the prime minister position, was vetting various ways to cut energy consumption. Her brainstorming led to "Cool Biz," a campaign that set all government building thermostats to 82.4 degrees during the summer. I'm sweating just typing that out this morning, but apparently it worked, and soon the business world adopted the practice too.

But since those temps are somewhat unbearable in the summer, Japanese energy scientists set to work on alleviating workers' pain. Their big solution? Suggesting they remove their ties and undo their shirt collars. Fun fact: People feel 4 or so degrees cooler when they do this.

The result is a Japan that consumes less energy at the expense of some ripe-smelling arm pits. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go adjust my air conditioner. [Slate]

Nikkei, one of the largest media conglomerates in Japan, is reporting that Sony has been working on a combination cellphone/game system for nearly a year. It's a rumor we've been hearing for years, so what's different this time?

Well, not much, really. Nikkei is a very solid source, definitely not prone to tossing plausible ideas around as actual reports. And of course, it's been such a persistent rumor because it makes so much sense: Sony is an important player in both the cellphone (with Sony Ericsson) and gaming worlds, though Sony Ericsson has been struggling in recent years. Now that Capcom and Square Enix are developing games for the iPhone platform, it's just about time for Sony to jump into the game and play a little catch-up.

The rumor itself is very vague: Nikkei says it will directly compete with the iPhone, and that a project team was set up last July to start working on the console/phone hybrid. So basically, it's the same rumor we've been hearing for years, except this time from a reliable source. Whether it's got any truth to it remains to be seen. Note: The above image is a mockup. Seems obvious but sometimes you gotta say it out loud. [Reuters]

Nikkei, one of the largest media conglomerates in Japan, is reporting that Sony has been working on a combination cellphone/game system for nearly a year. It's a rumor we've been hearing for years, so what's different this time?

Well, not much, really. Nikkei is a very solid source, definitely not prone to tossing plausible ideas around as actual reports. And of course, it's been such a persistent rumor because it makes so much sense: Sony is an important player in both the cellphone (with Sony Ericsson) and gaming worlds, though Sony Ericsson has been struggling in recent years. Now that Capcom and Square Enix are developing games for the iPhone platform, it's just about time for Sony to jump into the game and play a little catch-up.

The rumor itself is very vague: Nikkei says it will directly compete with the iPhone, and that a project team was set up last July to start working on the console/phone hybrid. So basically, it's the same rumor we've been hearing for years, except this time from a reliable source. Whether it's got any truth to it remains to be seen. Note: The above image is a mockup. Seems obvious but sometimes you gotta say it out loud. [Reuters]

Nikkei, one of the largest media conglomerates in Japan, is reporting that Sony has been working on a combination cellphone/game system for nearly a year. It's a rumor we've been hearing for years, so what's different this time?

Well, not much, really. Nikkei is a very solid source, definitely not prone to tossing plausible ideas around as actual reports. And of course, it's been such a persistent rumor because it makes so much sense: Sony is an important player in both the cellphone (with Sony Ericsson) and gaming worlds, though Sony Ericsson has been struggling in recent years. Now that Capcom and Square Enix are developing games for the iPhone platform, it's just about time for Sony to jump into the game and play a little catch-up.

The rumor itself is very vague: Nikkei says it will directly compete with the iPhone, and that a project team was set up last July to start working on the console/phone hybrid. So basically, it's the same rumor we've been hearing for years, except this time from a reliable source. Whether it's got any truth to it remains to be seen. Note: The above image is a mockup. Seems obvious but sometimes you gotta say it out loud. [Reuters]

We've seen reimagined Genesises (Geneses?) before, but this might be the best one yet. It's portable, it plays both original cartridges and ROMS off an SD card, it's got TV-out and it only costs $50. Sign us up.

The Retro-Gen (branded Sega, though we can't imagine Sega actually had anything to do with it) features a USB-rechargeable battery and comes pre-loaded with 20 "classic" games (we're not sure what they are, hence the quotes). It says it'll only play licensed ROMs, though who knows what that means; we'd imagine you can just load it up with whatever you've got. It doesn't look like it has an extra port for another controller, which would come in handy for multiplayer games using the handheld's TV-out, but you can't have everything, right? It's available for pre-order now, for a $50, $10 off the usual price. [Video Game Central via The Mirror]

We've seen reimagined Genesises (Geneses?) before, but this might be the best one yet. It's portable, it plays both original cartridges and ROMS off an SD card, it's got TV-out and it only costs $50. Sign us up.

The Retro-Gen (branded Sega, though we can't imagine Sega actually had anything to do with it) features a USB-rechargeable battery and comes pre-loaded with 20 "classic" games (we're not sure what they are, hence the quotes). It says it'll only play licensed ROMs, though who knows what that means; we'd imagine you can just load it up with whatever you've got. It doesn't look like it has an extra port for another controller, which would come in handy for multiplayer games using the handheld's TV-out, but you can't have everything, right? It's available for pre-order now, for a $50, $10 off the usual price. [Video Game Central via The Mirror]

Luxo Jr., the mascot of possibly the world's greatest film studio, Pixar, has been turned into an animatronic, real-life version that's remarkably smooth and lifelike. Well, as lifelike as a formerly-animated robot based on an old-school desk lamp can be.

This Luxo Jr. debuted a few days ago at Disney's Hollywood studios, as part of Pixar's "Living Character" exhibit that includes an inflatable version of the house from Up and a possibly dangerous saturation of Randy Newman songs. [via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Luxo Jr., the mascot of possibly the world's greatest film studio, Pixar, has been turned into an animatronic, real-life version that's remarkably smooth and lifelike. Well, as lifelike as a formerly-animated robot based on an old-school desk lamp can be.

This Luxo Jr. debuted a few days ago at Disney's Hollywood studios, as part of Pixar's "Living Character" exhibit that includes an inflatable version of the house from Up and a possibly dangerous saturation of Randy Newman songs. [via Boing Boing Gadgets]

You may have thought, after eons of punching each other in movies with nonexistent plots, that Autobots and Decepticons wouldn't agree on anything. But as proven on Attack of the Show, they both agree that the Pre bests the iPhone.

Warning: This video, since it's from Hulu, can only be watched within the United States. It sucks, we know.

We may have to change out opinion on this most contentious of debates. No, not the iPhone vs. Pre; we're talking about the new film version of Brideshead Revisited vs. the classic 1981 miniseries. [Thanks, Stephen!]

You may have thought, after eons of punching each other in movies with nonexistent plots, that Autobots and Decepticons wouldn't agree on anything. But as proven on Attack of the Show, they both agree that the Pre bests the iPhone.

Thanks to Fractal the Meek for dropping a Communist international-friendly video in the comments.

We may have to change out opinion on this most contentious of debates. No, not the iPhone vs. Pre; we're talking about the new film version of Brideshead Revisited vs. the classic 1981 miniseries. [Thanks, Stephen!]