Sequels in February 2018

Recently, I renewed a couple of gadgets. Each of them is on trial.


Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Surface Pro has come

Unfortunately, I dropped Surface Pro into the ground on its corner. Its display is now crazing. The functions are still intact.


Saturday, February 10, 2018
Pyeongchang Olympic has begun

Pyeongchang Olympic was closed without major troubles. The harsh climate and other several issues suffered the associated people. I respect all the people associated with the completion of this event.


Thursday, February 8, 2018
Nexus 5 to 5X

Nexus 5X is a good smartphone. But, I think its size is too bit large.

Striptease in Chinese funeral

China government began to perish an odd trend in funerals.

In some rural area in China, strippers, as well as other performers, are invited to the funeral for comforting the attendees. This habit rocketed in the 1990s, according to the article below.

Actually, I am not sure how this type of events is common in rural China. At least, however, the government, regulating sexual activity in public, seems to be annoyed by this trend.

International Business Times: China wants to ban the 'bizarre' practice of hiring strippers to perform at funerals

The government's intention is reasonable because strip-showdown in a funeral looks strange for many people in developed countries. Traditionally, cheering up the visitors on a ceremonial occasion has been a duty of the host. And a funeral reminds us of extinction of a family tree. For dismissing such fear, a striptease may be beneficial.

Furthermore, the host family can prove the fertile estate through performing a luxury event. It would be advantageous in keeping their relationship with relatives. Considering this, the increase of strip events in funeral may be relevant to the rise of enriched families in rural areas in recent years.

I do not support the policy of China government to ban the funeral event. The government set a window for whistleblowing. But it would not be effective because funeral events are usually held very privately. A similar attempt by the government failed previously. Also, intervening a private event seems to be excessive despite Chinese communist's ideology.

On the other hand, striptease is not good as a way of cheering attendees. Many people dislike this kind of activity. Of course, there are no acts attract everybody's affiliate. But, the nude show is too suggestive.

Your tear tells you will have Parkinson's disease

A group of Dr. Mark Lew at the University of Southern California reported a unique method for diagnosing Parkinson's disease.

The study was to measure the level of alpha-synuclein in the tear of examinees. The tear of patients with Parkinson's disease includes much alpha-synuclein, which is an abnormal type of protein potentially harmful to neurons.

Independent: Testing tears could lead to cheap and effective Parkinson's disease screening

This presentation was conducted at a conference of the American Academy of Neurology. Since their study seems not to have been published, I should be deliberate to jump into conclusion. If their finding is meaningful, it will be great progress in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease causes motor dysfunction as well as several complications. Its cause is considered to be the crippled substantia nigra. But the substantial reason why patients suffer from physical and mental symptoms has not been clarified.

Furthermore, diagnose Parkinson's disease is not easy, for my experience. Depression, anxiety, and hypochondriac thoughts often precede the onset of motor symptoms in Patients. They sometimes need several years before being diagnosed. There are some specific examinations such as DAT brain scan and heart muscle scintigraphy, but they are expensive and invasive. If a teardrop can detect early dysfunction of the patients, they will get ready for the disease without irritation. I hope this innovative finding will be authorized soon.

After Florida school shooting

Just recently, a school shooting occurred in Florida leading to the victimization of 17 people.

The suspect was an ex-student of the school. He was expelled from the school for violating the regulation.

ABC: Florida shooting: What we know about massacre suspect Nikolas Cruz


President Donald Trump's comments after this tragedy were dandling. Firstly, he suggested that the suspect had a mental illness based on the medical history of him, and mentioned the need for treatment. But he had canceled Obama's regulation which was to prohibit people with mental disorders from buying a gun.

Second, Trump said if school teachers had guns this kind of incidents would never continue. However, he tweeted before he did not disagree the regulation for banning guns at school.

And now, he seems to be willing to toughen the gun control. Florida has the loosest gun control laws in the US. Although it is not certainly related to that, many massacres occurred in Florida in recent years. Some citizens began a movement to exile guns from Florida.

ABC: Florida school shooting prompts US gun owner to destroy his rifle


On the other hand, rifle lovers turned to distrust Trump for the change of his stance. Traditionally, Republicans are enthusiastic to ensure the right of self-defense with guns. And Rifle Organizations have supported politicians belonging to Republican Party.

International Business Times: 'Betrayed:' After Florida shooting, a Trump backlash as he talks gun control

It is also said that the suspect had a biased ideology discriminating minorities. If so, spreading of Trump's "politically incorrect" thoughts can be a cause of such a severe crime. The defendant of Sagamihara massacre case occurred in Japan in 2016 is also said to have an ideology that disabled people do not deserve to live.

Depression in the modern era

Depression is now a common disease in the modern society. There are millions of patients, and the effect of depression on your life is quite serious.

However, the meaning of "depression" itself is changing, as far as I feel.

The other day, depressive patients suffered from psychomotor retardation so that they could not even complain their depressive mood. But, most patients in recent feel they are depressed and claim their suffering.

Whether they should be diagnosed with mild depression or other is under discussion despite the modern development of psychiatric diagnosis.

Reflecting this complicated situation, several companies failed to prove the effectiveness of newly developed antidepressants in a clinical trial. In short words, antidepressants cannot cure your suffering and complaints. It sounds rational that drugs never heal your spiritual pain.

In reality, however, I have some experiences that medication for depression was successful for some patients who did not look like depression. And, some studies support my experience.

After all, it is hardly predictable whether your depression will be mitigated by antidepressants. DSM-5, the latest diagnostic criteria abandoned excluding mourning reaction from the major depressive disorder.

By the way, the people suffering from depression is growing, according to some empirical studies. Although many people have become rich, there are increasing people who are not satisfied. Some people claim that this is an adverse result of pursuing prosperity excessively.

International Business Times: The modern epidemic of sadness destroying heart and soul cannot be solved with anti-depressants

I do not agree with this idea. The human mind is to think, consider, and compare with others. It is unavoidable for us to desire to be rich. Some people want to stop pursuing more goods with being entirely satisfied. It is good, but not applicable to all people. Every people has a right to be happy.

It is obvious that, however, the way to gain happiness is not limited to taking antidepressants. Psychiatrists are struggling for depressed people to be cured. But their role will change gradually.

Nobles oblige

The words of Bill Gates attracted public attention.

CNN: Billionaire Bill Gates says he should pay 'significantly higher' taxes

He seems to support higher taxation policy for rich people. Recently, the US diet approved a bill to reduce the corporation tax rate. It had been the main promise by Donald Trump. Gates' saying may be a counter to Trump's policy.

Determining the best corporation tax rate is a difficult issue. Higher rate makes companies escape to a foreign nation. The US decision will benefit domestic companies at least for a short term.

Bill Gates is enthusiastic about the solution of inequality issue in recent years. He established a foundation with his personal money to aid poor people.

Not limited to Gates, super-rich people tend to commit donation to poor people. Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank donated ten billion JPY immediately after the earthquake and Tsunami disaster in 2011. Perhaps, He had an intention to promote the reputation of SoftBank. Nonetheless, the good behavior is good.

I guess they have the concept of "noble's oblige." Thus, they believe the idea that their talent and fortune are gifts given by God. Therefore, they have to contribute to the society.

I am also a blessed person, though my grade is far inferior to Bill Gates. So, I have to contribute to the society as far as I can. I will devote a part of my life to other's happiness in some ways.

Coffee flavor

I like drinking coffee. But I have no idea how can I make coffee taste good.

A couple of years ago, I bought a coffee maker. It can create coffee as well as some specialty beverages such as Tea Au Lait.

I am satisfied to drink coffee using this machine. It costs only 50 cents per cup.

Nestle Dolce Gusto (in Japanese)

But, some people are enthusiastic to create better coffee. The quality of coffee flavor is influenced by several elements. Furthermore, there are many variations of specialty coffee.

ABC News: What makes a specialty coffee taste good? The science behind your morning cuppa

In Japan, canned coffee is also popular. You can buy it using a vending machine. The taste is inferior to coffee made by a barista, according to coffee lovers. But, I cannot detect the difference between them.

Surface Pro has come

Since my Mac was broken, I bought a new PC.

I chose Microsoft Surface Pro 4 with LTE. Surface Pro is a series of tablet PC produced by Microsoft. Surface Family consists of Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, and Surface Book. I preferred to use a PC with a touch panel. Surface Book is too heavy to carry. Therefore, I decided to buy a Surface Pro 4.

Just recently, Microsoft Japan released the Surface Pro 4 with LTE. It attracted my attention. But this model was for business use only. I bought one from a company dealing with industrial PCs.

I ordered a PC with a touch keyboard and a touch pen together.

The surface of Surface is smooth.

In my first impression, it is heavy. Actually, it is lighter than MacBook. But Surface's solid atmosphere disguised me.

The AC adapter is a little troublesome. Its condensers are attached in the middle of the cable. It is also heavy.

Setup takes a while. I expect it will work well.

An icon affects on human behavior

A web developer made an interesting experiment on her online service.

Kapwing blog: Why I don't use my real photo when messaging with customers on my website

She is a founder of Kapwing, a startup software company. She has been engaged in a customer service chat. But she was suffering from some sexual messages.

Therefore, she decided to change her icon from her real photo to a cofounder's. Then, the number of sexual messages rapidly decreased. It seemed obvious that a male photo did not attract the attention of rude customers. Then, she made a series of experiments. When she used a photo of a blond lady, sexual messages rocketed. In contrast, there were few customers attacking a cat icon. She concluded that humans could not be aggressive against cats.

An icon is an icon. We know that cats, dogs, and toys cannot speak or chat. At the same time, we should recognize the possibility that the counterpart of the chat is not a person the icon suggests.

In reality, however, the icon influences on customers' behavior. It suggests how we are easy to be disguised. In a situation you have to suppress sexual impulse, it is a good way to imagine the face of your mother.

People indifferent to investment

Everyone wants money. And there are several ways to earn money.

In general, money is a reward for work. Thus, the harder you work, the more you earn the salary.

However, working hard is not the best way to get rich. It has been a common sense at least since early in the 20th century.

Independent: Top financial adviser: 'If all you do in life is work really hard, you're never going to get wealthy'

The content of this article above is absolutely correct. Investment is a solution for you to increase your cash. To be honest, I was disappointed by this article because nothing new was mentioned in this issue.

In reality, there are three types of people who are not involved in the investment. The first category includes naive people. They are not willing to invest their money because they have no complaint about their income. Physicians, lawyers, and some officials are likely to be indifferent to investment. The second reason is lack of knowledge. Some people cannot distinguish investment from gambling. Traditionally, Japanese are deemed to not be good at investment. But in recent years, more Japanese are entering the activity of investment.

And, the third category is poor people. They do not have enough money to invest. They have no money for saving. And investment is not possible when you have no savings. As a result, they have no opportunity to learn about investing. And it leads to widened inequality.

My concern is the third point. Investment itself does not require much money. But poor people hardly get the start point. Also, some people lose money due to the lack of knowledge. Especially in Japan, early exposure to money literacy education is essential, I believe.

Dropbox is broken

So far, I have tried several kinds of cloud storage, as I mentioned before.

My past entry: Cloud storage services (1)

My past entry: Cloud storage services (2)

And I now use some storages together. In business, I use OneDrive. Dropbox is for private use. Hubic is a successor of GoogleDrive whose volume is going to be expired. Mega is also good, but it is no use in a certain network.

There are some reasons why I do not consolidate them to one service. First, any cloud storages are not perfect. I have experienced several troubles such as a failure of sync. Second, cloud storage services are often terminated, like Copy. I have to be accustomed to some services in such a case. And third, therefore, it is silly to pay money for incomplete services.

And just now, my Dropbox got broken. When I searched some files on my Android phone, it appeared different from themselves. For example, I opened a file named "picture.jpg." But the file "photo.jpg" was opened instead. When I opened "picture2.jpg," it was also "photo.jpg."

I was so annoyed that I deleted the file "photo.jpg" from Dropbox. Surprisingly, then "photo2.jpg" was opened when I chose "picture.jpg."

Enough is enough! I decided to uninstall Dropbox. And now I am trying Box, instead.

Four things you may be missing in long-lasting depression

I am involved in clinical trials of some newly developing drugs. For evaluating the effect of the substance (or placebo), I often interview with patients. In these cases, I assess the patient's status and daily life in the neutral position because I never intervene the treatment.

I found some common things that patients suffering from long-term depression have. Most of them are likely to be underestimated by the patients and even by the doctor in charge. Unfortunately, I cannot tell them directly to each patient because it will violate regulation of the clinical trial. Instead, I mention them on the web as a general description.

1. Many treatment-resistant depression is not depressive disorder

A major depressive episode lasts a half years or more if appropriate treatment is not provided. On the other hand, it is very rare that it lasts three years or more. If you are suffering from depression for more than three years, you might be misdiagnosed. Indeed, a-third of diagnosis of depression is incorrect, according to latest statistics.

You may have bipolar disorder, especially you always sleepy, tired, and anxious. It is quite questionable that antidepressants are effective for bipolar disorder. Talk to your doctor in charge as soon as possible.

2. Depressive patients seldom experience happy events due to their behaviors, not by depression

If your mood is elevated after a joyful event, your depression may be rather mild. Therefore, I ask patients, "Does your feeling get better after a happy event?" But most patients do not answer yes or no. They say, "A happy event never occurs to me."

But does it true? Of course, depressive patients hardly feel happy even if luck visits them. However, a more common reason is that depressive people seldom do light activity.

In a severe depressive state, you cannot do anything, and it is good to stay on the bed. But, in many cases, you should do more valuable things even if you feel depressed.

3. Lay on the bed is the last solution for anxiety

Depressive patients frequently feel anxious. It often causes a panic attack. They are frightened by anxiety and irritability. And most of the patients go to bed to keep their body and mind safe.

However, it is not a good treatment for anxiety. Lowered activity will enhance your ability to sense abnormal signs in your body. As a result, you will be sensitive to tiny stimuli. Also, the sleep-wake cycle will be disrupted. When you feel anxious, the best thing is to continue concentrating on what you were doing before. If it is difficult, light exercise, deep breathing, and showering are also beneficial.

4. Going to bed too early is no good

Patients with depression have insomnia. I wrote the treatment of sleep disorder before on this blog. Trying to go to bed earlier according to the fear of total insomnia is a very bad behavior. If you are not sleepy, you need not sleep immediately. Sit on the sofa, to read a novel or a comic book to kill the annoying time.

Innovation Index revealed

The 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index was published. The nation winning the top is South Korea. It keeps the triumph for years.

Bloomberg: The U.S. Drops Out of the Top 10 in Innovation Ranking

In this year, the US dropped the rank by two. Finland, Canada, and New Zealand were also declining. In contrast, France, China, Ireland, and Italy are climbing the ladder.

The Bloomberg Innovation Index is a compilation of several key elements. R&D intensity, manufacturing value-added, productivity, high-tech density, tertiary efficiency, researcher concentration, and patent activity are all important for development. But, how do each nation enhance the quality of these topics are various.

Bangkok Post: South Korea tops, Thailand drops in innovation index

For example, South Korea is the top-ranked at patent activity this year. Indeed, Korean companies gain a significant amount of new patents in recent years. However, the quality of each idea is questionable. Samsung, LG, and other companies had adopted the follower strategy. And finally, Samsung defeated Apple in some regions. But I am doubtful it has developed truly innovative products.

On the other hand, Japan has a problem with which innovation is hardly born. People are often too conservative and risk-avoidant. Although the development level of the technology is almost highest in the world, Japanese seldom create innovation such as Facebook, iPhone, or Bitcoin. Each nation has their own challenges.

Computer-free cafe

Nowadays, we receive maximum benefit from the IT and computers. Many people look almost always at the screen of the smartphone unless they are sleeping. At the same time, there is a backlash against excessive reliance on the modern technology. Some people are fond of abandoning PC and smartphones at least during a particular time such as at lunch or relaxation.

This dispute also occurs in the cafe. Recently, many cafe and restaurants offer Wi-Fi connecting service to the customers for free. In contrast, there are some places prohibiting the use of computers and electric devices.

The reason for inhibiting the use of computers is various. Since talking with a smartphone is annoying for other guests, most shops prohibit calling on the seat in general. Some cafes dislike customers who stay for many hours with ordering only one cup of coffee. In contrast, some owners seem to believe using an electronic device in their cafe looks not cool.

The Guardian: No laptops allowed – the cafes bringing back the art of conviviality

In my sense, laptop-free space is also cool. But, it is doubtful such places will be dominant in the future. Traditionally, a gentleman spent afternoon time with reading a book in a cafe. In recent, the book is replaced to iPad. That's it. Indeed, I read e-books on my iPad in Starbucks.

Talking with friends is another issue. I think face-to-face talk is different from chatting on the internet. Skype interview is similar to real talk, but also not the same. Regardless of the development of the modern technology, the happiness of talking with your lover will be unique forever.

Potato may be not harmful to the human health

In the academic region of nutrition, yesterday's common sense is often today's nonsense. Just recently, the adverse influence of eating eggs on your blood cholesterol was proven to be false.

And, potato seems to have been disgraced by a superstition. Latest studies suggest potato has a beneficial effect on you through lowering the risk of dementia.

New Zealand Herald: Researchers backtrack: Potatoes are actually good for you

Professor Derek Stewart in the James Hutton Institute in Scotland claims that you would not become ill if you eat no other than potatoes.

Potato has been a great source of energy since the beginning of the human civilization. Jared Mason Diamond mentioned in his writing that potato-eating fork finally defeated others who ate sweet potatoes. According to his opinion, the potato is still a strong ally of the human.

The best (and arrogant) way to mitigate stress from interpersonal relationship

You may often be frustrated by the interpersonal relationship.  You are scolded by your boss. Your comments are misunderstood by your subordinates. Your spouse is terrible at being supportive of you. You are suffering from relationship every day.

Indeed, the interpersonal relationship is the worst problem in labors, superior to low salary or excessive working time, as several studies suggest. The situation is similar in the family.

So, is it unrealistic for us to be relieved from such stresses? I have one solution. It is a very simple answer.

Believe that everyone other than you is a fool.

Fool people often become upset for silly reasons. Fool people are likely to fail to adhere the request. Their behaviors are troublesome. But, it is not to be blamed. A fool is a fool because of the lack of ability of understanding.

Rather, you should be shameful to have failed to make them work properly. You are always superior to other people. Thus, you have to do something for people around you. You must provide rational and easy to understand explanation to others. You have to accept their failures. They are "nobles oblige."

You may not be suffering from others against you. It belongs to your responsibility to make others cooperative. You have no time to blame others for being interrupted!

(I use the word "fool" for suggesting an abstract concept in this epigram. I have no intention to mock anyone.)

The reason Google's is the best among smart speakers

In recent years, smart speaker attracts attention in the IT industry. It equips an AI organizer to realize your requests orally ordered at home.

Currently, famous companies offer each device such as Google Home produced by Google, Amazon Echo by Amazon, and HomePod by Apple. Microsoft also released Harman Kardon Invoke last year in the US.

So, which should you choose? It depends on your living situation. But, as far as I know, I will choose Google Home if I decide it now.

Invoke is out of the question because it has not been released in Japan. Amazon Echo is available only for invited persons. Getting invitation letter is not so difficult for me, I guess. But, Amazon's Alexa is said not to be intelligent enough to understand any Japanese language.

Then, how is Apple's HomePod? According to the article, the quality is still underdeveloped.

The Conversation: Apple HomePod is already losing the smart speaker battle

So far, Apple has adopted vertical integration strategy. It means that every layer of services is provided by Apple. Instead, Apple is not willing to allow third parties to enter its ecosystem. For example, applications of iOS are not permitted to guide users to the payment managed by a third party. This restrictive policy inhibits a smart speaker from connecting several devices.

Actually, what I want the smart speaker to the most is to light the TV and air conditioner as soon as I get home. These works would not be realized unless the home electronic devices are smoothly connected to the smart speaker. I hardly believe Apple will address it. Among IT giants, Google is the best at being collaborative with external devices.

Big five of mental disorders share genetic activity

Mental disorders are archenemies for the human because of their adverse impact on the quality of our life. We, psychiatrists, have been studying them to reveal the real figure and way to overcome any mental disorders.

It may be possible, however, that the archenemies are not multiple, but a single disease, according to some researchers who never form the majority. For example, there is a hypothesis that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the two major psychiatric diseases are the same illness. This concept has never been accepted in the academic field. But actually, I sometimes experience some patients who were diagnosed as schizophrenia show the symptoms which are usually seen in those with bipolar disorder.

Therefore, the borders of major psychiatric illnesses are still under discussion. And there are no definite criteria of each mental disorder. Thus, we label them through the clinical symptoms they have. And the symptoms occasionally alter.

Recently, a paper shedding light to this issue was published in Science, a world-famous academic journal. The author suggests that some mental disorders share the same genetic malformations.

The Washington Post: Five major psychiatric disorders have overlapping patterns of genetic activity, new study shows

According to the author, similar levels of particular molecules in the brain was found between autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Also, bipolar disorder and major depression, and major depression and alcoholism were matched in gene expression.

Science: Shared molecular neuropathology across major psychiatric disorders parallels polygenic overlap

Since rich knowledge is required to understand the concept of this article, I am not sure what the author has really proven. At least, the conclusion of this study seems to be consistent with the clinical findings. Other than schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and autism are often difficult to be distinguished, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder as well. Also, most patients with alcoholism suffer from depression. It is not surprising that these diseases share some organic malformations in molecular level.

On the other hand, I believe this issue will never be given decisive conclusion unless current diagnostic criteria are amended. DSM-5 and ICD-10 are excellent manuals for statistics and diagnoses of mental disorders. Nonetheless, there are limitations in classifying any mental disorders strictly. In the next era of psychiatry, some biological markers including genetic patterns will be necessary to diagnose mental disorders.

Pyeongchang Olympic has begun

The Olympic game has begun. Yesterday, the opening ceremony was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea with a warm atmosphere.

The Washington Post: Olympics open with dazzling spectacle and warm gestures between the Koreas

South Korea is in a difficult situation between the US and North Korea. Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, is threatening the US and other nations with the expectation that it will equip intercontinental missiles with a nuclear weapon soon. Moon Jae-in, the South Korean President, is willing to negotiate with North Korea rather than behave hostilely. But his attitude is not welcomed by the US.

This day, Some members of North Korean government including Kim Yong Nam, attended the ceremony. Abe Shinzo, Prime Minister of Japan, also participated in the ceremony although he had suggested not to visit Pyeongchang because of the conflict around the comfort women.

There are several other issues under this Olympic game such as Russian athletes banned from the official games due to drug misuse and the outbreak of norovirus. Nonetheless, there were no explicit troubles observed in the opening ceremony.

Olympic is a festival of athletes. It is difficult, however, to commit the host country without considering political issues. I hope the South Korean government will complete this event without any accident.

The value of your life and work

If you are given less money than you contribute to your company, you may be exploited by the company.

In contrast, if you earn more money than you make profits, you may be a person of cost-effectiveness, but might not be good for others.

By contrast, if you earn money completely equal to that you contribute, you are deemed not to make values for the world at all.

Which style do you choose?

Nexus 5 to 5X

I had planned to change my smartphone because its battery seemed to be exhausted. I had to recharge twice or three times every day.

I considered buying a Galaxy S8 instead of the old Nexus 5. Galaxy series looked smart and cool. However, Y Mobile, the telecommunication company I was under contract, did not offer any smartphones provided by Samsung.

One day, I received a notification from Y Mobile in which it would offer Nexus 5X for a low cost. In addition, it was prepared to take my Nexus 5 as a trade-in.

It seemed a good deal to me, though Nexus 5X is not the latest product. Therefore, I decided to change my Nexus 5 to Nexus 5X.

The contract was carried out without stress. The new machine was sent to my home soon.

Nexus 5X is a little bigger than Nexus 5. There are no significant differences between them. But in several aspects, Nexus 5X was improved compared to the old model. It equips a fingerprint identification system on the back of its body. I can log in in a second without any tapping the screen.

Looks good. I will try the quality of my new partner for a while.

You may not buy Bitcoin by credit card

Lloyds Bank announced that it would prohibit customers buying cryptocurrencies by credit card.

International Business Times: Lloyds Bank bans customers from buying bitcoin on their credit cards

Similar movements emerged in other credit card companies and banks. In recent days, the price of Bitcoin is extremely frustrating. Just a few month ago, every person who bought Bitcoin gained lots of money because its price is rapidly rising. Therefore, not a few people attempted to invest in Bitcoin. But the situation has been changed. The price of Bitcoin fell down by a third in a few weeks. I guess some people bore a huge debt.

Card companies seem to worry about the risk of loan unreturned. Thus, a person buys Bitcoin by credit card. He expects he will sell the Bitcoin at a higher price. But the price of Bitcoin dramatically falls. He sells the Bitcoin, but he cannot return the money he loaned. It is tragic both for him and the credit card company.

This problem will not occur when you buy Bitcoin by fiat. Therefore, Debit cards will be continuously available to use for purchasing cryptocurrency.

I think this new policy is acceptable. Protecting customers should be prioritized.

When the value of cryptocurrency becomes stable, is it rational that this regulation is amended? I am not sure. Also, cryptocurrency is one form of currency, though it is not accepted by any governments. Buying Bitcoin by credit card is no other than money laundering. It is a potentially risky act.

Grape cures your depression? not sure

Depression is one of the diseases which do damage to your life a lot regardless of your age, gender, or occupation. In recent years, WHO has identified depression as the second worst disease in the world for health cost. It is rational considering that depressed people feel difficult to work efficiently. Of course, the most tragic outcome of depression is suicide. But even if you have no suicidal thought, your productivity would be considerably lowered by depression.

Also in this blog, I have mentioned many things which are potentially useful to overcome depression. Nowadays, medication, psychotherapy, and some other physical treatments have been proven to mitigate depressive symptoms. But there is still no final solution found.

Apart from special care given by doctors and psychiatrists, there are some ways expected to deal with depression effectively. Most of them are still under discussion. But, regular exercise and exposing daylight are certainly effective to cure depression, despite their power is limited.

On the other hand, there are no particular diets to be proven as effective. Eating fish including rich omega-3 fatty acid can potentially protect you from depression. But once in the depressive state, fish has little effect.

If the daily foods had strong effects on your health, they would be rather risky in other aspects. Thus, the effect of each particular food to promote your health status must be minimal.

Nonetheless, many people expect foods to help them. Researchers are seeking various possibilities. Among them, the polyphenol in grapes is focused recently.

Hindustan Times: Feeling depressed? A handful of grapes can help make you feel better

I do not believe the effect of grapes to cure depression, to be honest. Experiments using mice propose limited evidence, especially in the theme of the human mind. Of course, you can eat grapes expecting it will relieve you of the depressive mood. It may be bee beneficial more or less. In contrast, if you dislike grapes, you should not try them. Doing the things you do not like is generally no good in the depressive state.

On the other hand, the relationship between depression and inflammation described in this article above is interesting. Most psychiatrists do not believe the hypothesis that depression is a result of inflammation in brain cells. But, there were some patients I met who became seriously depressed soon after catching a common cold. Oxidative stress is also under discussion as a cause of many psychiatric illnesses. More research is needed to clarify the real figure of depression.

Health risk of smartphone is still uncertain

Everyone knows that mobile phones make the electromagnetic wave. But is it harmful to you? It is not easy to answer this question.

The adverse effect of the electromagnetic wave itself is still unclear. It is likely that some people are sensitive to the electromagnetic wave. But the threshold of the intensity to be harmful is under discussion.

Furthermore, the intensity of the electromagnetic wave caused by a smartphone is minimal. It is impossible to generate cancer by single use of a smartphone cause your cancer.

However, we use a smartphone every day. A minimal risk might be critical if exposed thousands of times.

After all, a longitudinal observational experiment is required to calculate the exact risk of cancer by smartphone. Fortunately, there is still an absence of the evidence your smartphone will do damage to your brain.

SPH Websites: Mobile phones are still safe for humans, researchers say

We should be aware of the risk that your smartphone or other electric devices are proven as harmful to your health. But, I guess there is little possibility of such future. In the modern society, there are various risks in daily life. Avoiding a particular thing is not important rather than making your life balanced.

Event of Fastest Finger First

Yesterday, I attended an analog game event. I played
"Lost Legend," which is a semi-corporative fantasy game. It was fun.

Also, I participated in a Fastest Finger First event, "Hayaoshi (fast-push) Quiz."

In Japan, quiz events are popular. Some students organize a quiz team to win the national competition such as "Kokosei Quiz (High-school students' quiz)."

But, it was for the first time to attend such competition, though I have watched some matches on TV.

In reality, it was too difficult for me to push the button immediately after knowing the answer. For example, "The question: in a gamble, skilled players are defeated by a..." A player pushed the button then, to answer "beginner's luck!"

There is another pattern of questions. In "parallel type," the first half of the question is trickily described. For example, "In Super Mario Brothers, Princess Peach is..." The answer is not "Mushroom Kingdom." The question is: "In Super Mario Brothers, Princess Peach is the princess of Mushroom Kingdom, so what is the  country of Princess Daisy?" What a twisted question!

Unfortunately, I made little contribution to our team. Our team got the third in eight teams. But I was fascinated by the quiz competitors.

Victim's father attacks the defender in the court

In the US, a father of victimized girls attacked the offender in the court.

International Business Times: Watch paedophile doctor Larry Nassar get rushed by traumatised father in US courtroom

Two daughters of the father were molested by the defending US gymnastics doctor, as the charge says. There may be hundreds of women who were also victimized other than his daughters.

In this day, his daughters gave victim impact statements to the Michigan court. And the father asked the judge to let him together with the defendant for minutes. Of course, the judge did not allow it.  Then, the father charged to the defendant, to be caught by the guards. The scene was broadcasted by the media.

Such an incident is easily predictable. The court is well prepared to avoid any harm to the defendant. It is not surprising that victims never accept it. Many think it is unfair offender's right is protected by the tax paid by victims.

On the other hand, revenge never heals anyone. If the defendant is killed by this father, he will inflict uncurable damage in his mind instead of the satisfaction. Nonetheless, he could not control himself from conducting the charge. If I had a daughter who was humiliated, I would do the same thing to the attacker because I would not care for my own life.

The most important thing for preventing another tragedy is the care of the victims and their families as well as correction of the offenders.

Charging for birthday party

In the UK, a woman's act is under discussion. She charged 6 BGP for the fee to attend her sons' birthday party.

International Business Times: Is it OK to charge other parents to attend your kid's birthday party?

The children came to five y.o. And the mother planned to take them and their friends to an indoor play center in Leicester.

Some people criticized her for taking money from guests, while others admit the necessity of charging.

Indeed, I have no experience of paying money when attending a birthday party for someone. But, if it is the case of a wedding, nobody would refuse the payment. Considering this fact, it looks rational to collect money from attendees for the cost of conducting a birthday party.

In Japan, some people feel annoyed to decide the amount of money, or value of the present, for celebration. Giving too little money looks shameful. On the other hand, giving too much money may mean a lack of common sense in Japanese society. Therefore, fixed fee for attending the wedding is popular in recent years. Charging for a birthday party is perhaps accepted rather in Japan, I think.

Amazon's challenges than e-commerce

In recent days, Amazon attracts public attention by announcing new challenges.

It is planning to open a new supermarket where exist on land, not in the cyberspace. It equips no checkouts at all, surprisingly.

International Business Times: Amazon opens first supermarket with no checkouts at all

Consumers can bring any items sold in the store to go out. The webcam in the store and Amazon Go app installed on the smartphone of each customer detect which things you have chosen, to charge the payment automatically.

I heard this story several months ago. Nonetheless, I am excited to know such innovation will be realized soon.

Amazon launched e-commerce service at first. Jeff Bezos chose books as merchandise because books cannot be rotten. And it broadened the range of dealing to massively various things from electronics to fresh foods.

And in recent years, Amazon is aiming at other fields of business than e-commerce. It is also said that Amazon will enter the industry of health insurance.

In Japan, Amazon was elected as a sponsor of "Sazae-san," a nationally famous TV animation series, just recently. Sazae-san has been describing the daily life of an ordinary family living in Tokyo for several decades. Toshiba, an electronics company had sponsored Sazae-san since the launch. But Toshiba quitted the support due to the fiscal crisis last year.

Jeff Bezos, the world richest man, seems to be perfect in business now. I wonder what his next move is.