people, Global Health, Invention Gregory T. Huang wrote: Yesterday, we ran the first half of a sit-down interview with Nathan Myhrvold, cofounder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue, WA-based invention laboratory and investment firm. Myhrvold, the former CTO of Microsoft (and an Xconomist), placed his current company’s goals in the context of venture capital and private equity, arguing that there is a real need to create what he calls an “invention capital” industry. In what follows, Myhrvold talks about the lessons he learned in forming Microsoft Research, the differences between research and invention, some ambitious and far-out projects from Intellectual Ventures (e.g., invisibility, geo-engineering), and the motivation behind his firm’s upcoming expansion into five Asian countries. Xconomy: Before we get into specific projects and inventions, what all did you learn from Microsoft Research that’s applicable to Intellectual Ventures? Nathan Myhrvold: I have a theory that R&D is a great investment, a fundamentally good business. Using the human mind to go from nothing to something is a hell of a trick. And there’s nothing fair about it. A guy like Einstein can come up with all these things, but so can people who aren’t actually all that smart! There are people dumber than Einstein who’ve made amazing contributions. So I believe you can make money with research, or invention. But you need a certain scale factor. Let’s say I have this idea called life insurance. If I just insured your life, it wouldn’t be worth it to either one of us. Insurance is fundamentally a risky bet, and to make it reasonable, what you’re buying and selling is variance. You need to have a large end limit to shrink the variance down. With Microsoft Research, I came to the conclusion that research could have been enormously profitable for Bell Labs, IBM, and others. It was profitable, but it could have been even more profitable. Xerox PARC could have made Xerox one of the most valuable companies on Earth. But most people screwed it up. And after screwing it up, the lesson was mislearned that it’s impossible to be successful in this way. Most of Silicon Valley turned away from the notion of trying to do anything new. The implicit attitude was, hey, that’s why Stanford exists, somehow they’ll come up with new ideas. We’ll wait until that occurs. And then when companies got bigger, the size of Oracle or Sun or Apple, they said, “Well, keep doing that. Screw it, we’re not actually going to do anything really exciting.” And I thought, no that’s the wrong thing to do. If you have the scale at which you can afford to wait 5 to 10 years for a result, that was the key thing. If I say, invent something or do valuable research tomorrow, that’s an impossible task. But if I say, support 100 really smart people working really hard for 5 years, something great will come of it. X: That’s what you had at Microsoft, because of its size. NM: At Microsoft, we had the resources to do that. So I talked Bill [Gates] into starting Microsoft Research. It’s been hugely successful; they would say it’s one of the best investments they ever made, enormous customer value and shareholder value…To sum up, Microsoft Research is based on a similar idea [as Intellectual Ventures], with one twist. There, all I had to do was convince one man, and we could go ahead. After I retired from Microsoft, I wanted to keep going. I no longer had the one man to convince to do the whole thing. If you think about how to replicate the model, even if I’d gotten Bill to give me more money to do something else, that wouldn’t be the replicable model. So that’s where I came back and said OK, how could you do this on an even broader scale? It turns out the way the world does this on a broad scale isn’t by saying this will be done by a government agency or by Bell Labs, a research lab funded by a monopoly business. In fact, the modern way to do it is to create one of these marketplaces where large investors are willing to put a small fraction of their income towards really risky things. And so …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Less

Inspired and birthed from asian influences blo*blo is a lounging comfort zone serving the finest cocktails and gyoza's in the village. Be entertained or lie back and be lavished with blo*blo's own range of specialized drinks, including the infamous flaming Yotei. Less

Situated a 10-minute walk from the slopes of Grand Hirafu's Hanazono ski area and a 10-minute drive to both Hirafu Village and the town of Kutchan, this 5-bedroom home with modern furnishings is in a prime location for the anticipated expansion of Hanazono. This spacious home with grand views of the surrounding mountains is ready to move in to, and is a great opportunity for capital growth. This house was built in 2007 and will suit the most discerning buyer. Less

Music from Japan, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia. All for you from Dragon Radio, Asia's only source for Asian music. Less

deals, acquisitions, Telecom Wade Roush wrote: Netcracker Technology, a Waltham, MA, company that makes software used by telecom companies to manage order fulfillment and other operations, announced today that it will be acquired by Tokyo-based electronics and communications giant NEC. The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal. Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Less

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. What would Japan look like through the eyes of a drifter camped in a shantytown near one of Tokyo's trendiest zones? Today on Boing Boing tv, we debut Dowa Mondai: Assimilation Issues, an experimental short film by Bob Jaroc which attempts to provide an answer. The director explains: In the run up to the launch of the 2006 av album Greedy Baby, Plaid (Ed Handley) and myself were on tour in Japan. On a day off in Tokyo I visited a small shantytown in Shibuya I had seen from a train the day before, tucked away in a kids playground. My translator Nick Stone and myself introduced ourselves to a friendly group of people and negotiated permission to pry into their lives and film, in exchange for some food/ cigarettes and wine. My intentions for the piece were to stay clear of making a patronizing "cry/be angry for the homeless people" thing or a romanticized view of that life. I wanted to distill the experiences of the people who took the time to talk to me and question myself why I ended up going there in search of something to film. This was filmed on Kodak vision2 200 super 8 stock with a Beaulieu 6008pro. The neg was cut into 1000 strips and was given away with the 1st 1000 copies of Greedy Baby. Dowa Mondai: Assimilation Issues was made from those rushes/recordings. The short was shot, directed, and edited by Bob Jaroc, with music from Ed Handley (Plaid). Jaroc's past work includes work with other recording artists such as The Go Team and Leila. He has collaborated with artists Chris Dorley Brown, Blast Theory and Zoë Walker and Neil Bromwich. Jaroc has appeared at the Queen Elizabeth hall, the Los Angeles Natural History Musem and the London IMAX, and he is currently working with the dance company Random Dance on a piece that will be headline the main stage at the UK festival The Big Chill. More selected shorts by Jaroc here. Plaid, whose music you hear in the piece, recently remixed a song by Bats for Lashes featured previously on Boing Boing; the 12" of that remix will be out soon. (special thanks to David Pescovitz) Less

Biotech, Devices, Emphysema Luke Timmerman wrote: Spiration, a Redmond, WA-based maker of medical devices for lung diseases, said it signed a deal to allow Tokyo-based Olympus to distribute its minimally-invasive device for emphysema patients in Japan. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, although Olympus will pay for clinical trials needed in Japan, and file applications to regulators there, Spiration said. The two companies are already preparing to commercialize the device, called the IBV Valve System, in Europe this fall, as we discussed earlier this month. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

Armadillo attack! Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime and manga. So, don't worry if you don't get this movie... Otherwise, you're an otaku too! Otakus has been written, directed, edited and post produced by Andres Borghi at kaMiKaZe Producciones. The actors: Andrés Borghi is Jorge, Nicolás Stilman is Héctor, Martín Cataldi and Jorge Dieguez are the soccer players. Director of photography: Javier Colongo. Art direction: Andrés Borghi, Nicolás Stilman, Facundo Spolaore. Original music: Pablo Borghi. Sound design: Hugo Meyer. The song is called Kimiwa otaku mo, and sung by Nicolás Stilman. The movie is in Japanese and Spanish language, with English subtitles. Otaku è un termine giapponese che denota gente con l'ossessione per un interesse, in particolare anime e manga. Perciò, se non lo capite, non fa niente... Altrimenti, siete anche voi otaku! Otakus è stato scritto, diretto, montato e post prodotto da Andres Borghi presso kaMiKaZe Producciones. Gli attori: Andrés Borghi è Jorge, Nicolás Stilman è Héctor, Martín Cataldi e Jorge Dieguez sono i calciatori. Direttore della fotografia: Javier Colongo. Direzione artistica: Andrés Borghi, Nicolás Stilman, Facundo Spolaore. Musiche originali: Pablo Borghi. Progetto del suono: Hugo Meyer. Il brano si intitola Kimiwa otaku mo, cantato da Nicolás Stilman. Il film è in lingua spagnola e giapponese, con sottotitoli in inglese. Copyright © Kamikaze Producciones thanks to Rr.Selavy DOWNLOAD (720x576): Scarica Otakus.[Format: AVI - Size: 92 MB - Running Time: 8 min.] DOWNLOAD (720x576): Scarica Otakus.[Format: Ogg Video - Size: 82 MB - Running Time: 8 min.] DOWNLOAD (640x480): Scarica Otakus.[Format: MPEG-4 - Size: 78 MB - Running Time: 8 min.] WATCH (ALT.): Guarda Otakus su Vimeo.[Format: Flash Video] WATCH (NO SUBS): Guarda Otakus senza sottotitoli.[Format: Flash Video] WATCH (LOW RES): Guarda Otakus in finestra.[Format: Flash Video] LINK: Visita Kamikaze producciones. IMDB: Pagina di Otakus - Andrés Borghi CODECS: Ogg - DivX - Flash Less

Daily TIPs, science, Broadband Neil Savage wrote: Japan Challenges Detroit on Green Cars General Motors is working hard at putting its electric car, the Volt, on the streets by 2010. But Business Week wonders if Detroit will be able to catch up to Japan’s lead on green cars. Toyota, for instance, is planning to double its sale of hybrids in the early part of the next decade. 14 Science Questions for Would-Be Presidents A group called Science Debate 2008 continues to push candidates John McCain and Barack Obama to have a debate solely on science. To that end, they’ve sent the presidential contenders a list of 14 questions they’d like such a debate to cover. Wired prints the questions, which cover subjects from energy to stem cells to space exploration. Public Cares About Science, Poll Shows The vast majority of people polled by the group Scientists and Engineers for America said that it’s important to base policy decisions on topics such as health care and global warming on science, says Discover Magazine. But the magazine’s blog wonders whether the public would be as enthusiastic about science if they were asked questions about paying taxes to fund it. Groups Sue Government Over Cell Phone Tracking The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are suing the Department of Justice for access to records about the agency’s tracking of cell phone users. The New York Times reports that the groups filed suit this week in U.S. District Court in Washington. The ACLU had filed a Freedom of Information Act request last November, but Justice has not yet delivered the documents. Solar Plant Moratorium Reversed After an outcry from the solar power industry, the federal Bureau of Land Management has lifted its recently announced ban on new solar energy projects on public lands. The BLM had placed a two-year moratorium on such projects so it could study their impact. CNET News says the bureau reversed course on Wednesday. Order on YouTube Records Raises Privacy Worries A court order to Google to release massive amounts of data about YouTube users has privacy advocates concerned, according to TechCrunch. The order came in a lawsuit between Viacom and Google, in which Viacom contends that YouTube violated its copyrights. The order seeks the name and IP address of every YouTube user, along with a list of the videos that person has watched. Will Hydrogen Push Aside Gasoline? Hydrogen is being touted as the transportation fuel of the future, powering cars without polluting the atmosphere or entangling the U.S. with foreign countries. But Scientific American, reviewing the issues surrounding hydrogen, says the jury is still out on whether hydrogen can actually replace gasoline. The big question: Can hydrogen be generated and stored on a practical scale? Demand for High-Speed Internet Slows Down With 55 percent of adult Americans already having high-speed broadband at home, new demand for broadband Internet access has slowed to a crawl, reports GigaOm. Citing a recent study from Pew Internet, the site also says low-income groups are cutting back on their broadband spending. Daily TIPs (technology, innovation, policy) is produced in collaboration with Comments (4) | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Less

DJ Hell takes you on a ride with this unbelievable live Death Disco Radio mix. Live in Vienna 2008, keeps you on the edge of your seat. Dont touch that dial, since wont hear this anywhere but Death Disco Radio. Forget about TV, Forget about radio, Death Disco Radio brings you the sound of our generation. DJ Hell (or simply Hell) has balanced Detroit minimalism and Chicago acid-house as well as more spacious German trance and hardcore. Beginning his mixing career while still a teenager, Hell moved through punk and new wave to electro, house and hip-hop by the mid-’80s. His DJing gradually led to the start of his production career, and one of his first singles “My Definition of House Music” became a large club hit when reissued by Belgium’s R&S Records in 1992. He moved to Berlin to work with Hardwax Records during 1993-94, and also spent time in New York before moving back to his native Munich. Besides releasing his album debut Geteert und Gefedert on Disko B in 1994, DJ Hell recorded a volume in the Studio !K7 mix series X-Mix. His second full-length, Munich Machine, also appeared on Disko B—though credited simply to Hell. Besides continuing to DJ around the world, he also ran the International Deejay Gigolos label, which released tracks by Jeff Mills, Christopher Just and David Carretta, among others. Less

Noio volevam savuar... A blast from the past, when nobody has a clue on what the hell you were supposed to do with a photo camera on a cellphone. Photo (also known as Tokyo or Japan) was directed by Johan Renck and produced at Soixante Quinze. Director of photography: Mattias Montero . Creative agency: Publicis Conseil, Paris. Creative director: Olivier Altmann. Art director: Robin De Lestrade. Copywriter: Guilhem Arnal. Un evergreen del tempo in cui nessuno aveva idea di cosa farsene di una fotocamera installata sul telefonino. Photo (anche noto come Tokyo o Japan) è stato diretto da Johan Renck e prodotto presso Soixante Quinze. Direttore della fotografia: Mattias Montero . Agenzia creativa: Publicis Conseil di Parigi. Direttore creativo: Olivier Altmann. Direttore artistico: Robin De Lestrade. Copywrite: Guilhem Arnal. DOWNLOAD (HI RES): Scarica Photo.[Format: MPEG-2 - Size: 58 MB - Running Time: 1 min.] DOWNLOAD (ALT.): Scarica Photo.[Format: MPEG-4 - Size: 17 MB - Running Time: 1 min.] DOWNLOAD (ALT.): Scarica Photo.[Format: Ogg Video - Size: 15 MB - Running Time: 1 min.] DOWNLOAD (ALT.): Scarica Photo.[Format: Quicktime - Size: 11 MB - Running Time: 1 min.] WATCH: Guarda Phone in finestra. DOWNLOAD (LO RES): Scarica Photo.[Format: Quicktime - Size: 16 MB - Running Time: 1 min.] WATCH: Guarda Phone in finestra. WATCH (ALT.): Guarda Phone in finestra.[Format: Quicktime] LINK: Visita Soixan7e Quin5e LINK: Visita Mattias Montero LINK: Visita R.A.F. LINK: Visita Publicis CODECS: Ogg - Apple Quicktime Less

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Boing Boing tv passes the 150th episode mark today, and we're celebrating by cooking up some delicious takenoko (???), young bamboo shoots, with Joi Ito -- and original music by Ryuichi Sakamoto. You may know Joi as a serial entrepreneur, a twittering globetrotter VC, a World of Warcraft junkie, or the CEO of Creative Commons, but he has a more traditional side, too. In this video, Ito welcomes us into his back yard in Japan, where he and his partner Mizuka teach us how to hunt for and prepare this traditional seasonal delicacy from a lush bamboo forest. The episode is accompanied by an original score composed by Grammy, Academy Award, and Golden Globe-winning composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto. The legendary electronic music pioneer is also an outspoken environmental advocate. His recent reforestation initiative, “More Trees,” supports the planting of trees around the world to help offset carbon emissions. To-date, 2 billion trees have been planted mostly through work with country governments including Turkey, Ethiopia and Mexico. Link to English-language PDF with more info on the project. Sakamoto co-founded the seminal synthpop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, and has scored or contributed to movie soundtracks including The Last Emperor , Merry Christmas Mister Lawrence , Babel , and the work of director Pedro Almodóvar. Boing Boing tv thanks him for generously contributing this beautiful, evocative score. After the jump -- Joi Ito's family recipe for yummy takenoko just like mom used to make. Special thanks to the Ito family for sharing their traditions with us. Less

China’s president, Hu Jintao, arrives in Tokyo, presenting a friendly face and an end to rancor between his country and Japan. But the case of the bad dumplings may poison high expectations for the talks, Donna Kwok, Stratfor’s East Asia analyst, tells Colin Chapman. Less

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. In today's episode of Boing Boing tv, Xeni visits with John Gaeta, the Academy Award-winning Visual Effects supervisor of the Matrix trilogy, to learn more about his digital craft in the new film Speed Racer . This latest Wachowski brothers project reinterprets the classic 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name, and opens in theaters nationwide on May 9. Gaeta explains how he used VR "bubbles" and a mysterious team known as the "world unit" to create the film's "poptimistic photo-anime" feel. The live action Speed Racer is saturated in a candy-colored palette so rich, audiences may just leave the theater with a contact sugar high. View interactive samples of the digital building blocks behind the movie in a related online feature in VRMAG, "Speed Racer Uncovered." (Special thanks: John Gaeta; Andy and Larry Wachowski; and David Pescovitz) Less

Can't see the video? Watch this video now in a browser or download this video now. Today on Boing Boing tv, a sneak peek inside TOKYOLOGY, a new documentary exploring contemporary Japanese pop-culture hosted by Carrie Ann Inaba. Oh, what adventures await: sneak behind the scenes at a Japanese Rock TV show that pretends it's shot in Los Angeles, cruise Harajuku, go clubbing with goth girls in Shinjuku, shop for shoes with Lolitas, experience the madness of the Tokyo Anime Fair, visit a video game company, browse the streets of Akihabara, and meet anime creator Yoshitoshi Abe. DVDs are available in retail stores and online, tokyology.tv has details. (Special thanks to Tokyology co-producers Felix and Julian Mack of Nightjar.) Less