Silicon Valley Manual

Joi Ito is The Man.

I had read Joi’s name in tech articles here and there but did not know the full story until I read up on his wikipedia entry. It is like I am living parts of his life in reverse.

He was born in Japan and came to america before returning and I did the opposite when I studied abroad in Japan.  I cannot wait to return.

We both are DJs (maybe he stopped?), love technology, video games,  and Japan.

I think I have a new rolemodel - and the perfect investor for my company.

Where to draw the line between work and play?

If, for example, you did not have to work 9-5, and could theoretically be working or playing at any time, where would you draw the line?

I am asking this question because it seems to me that in my spare time I always have work that i could be doing (whether related to my job or just for myself).

The challenge is to decide whether i value this time most for relaxation, work, or active play. Also, how to split time up such as to respect all of these three areas and keep them in balance.

I think the largest part of this is to not over-analyze and really go with the gut.

Is this cliche’ true?

Sean Connery Has Nothing On Me

Sean connery has NOTHING on me old boy!

Why is Howard Dean’s Byahh Still Hilarious?

Product Concept: CloudKeys

Imagine a keyboard with small wells instead of buttons for each key. Simply inserting your finger into the well you would trigger a sensor and the keyboard would respond with a sexy, futuristic noise and/or visual confirmation instead of a loud key clack. Also different keys or macros/key combos could trigger different sounds.
For example: you play your favorite FPS and hear a different noise each time you select a
different weapon, allowing you to avoid looking off the screen at any point.

or:

You are increasing or decreasing some value of your photoshop document and the key
responds by generating a louder or quiter noise.

Let me know if you would buy it and/or what you would change and use it for in the comments.

Also- Check out the Optimus Keyboard.

Japanese Beer Ad… This Guy is Pumped

How much more excited could you really get? I know i would be this stoked if my drink had 99.9%* grain. Shot is from the East Japan Railways Yokohama Line. Update: My conversation partner has told me that this awesome guy is “Taizou” and he is from the Japanese comedy group ‘Neppuchun’ or Neptune in english.

Amazing Sea Urchin

Strange Creatures,
originally uploaded by jurvetson.

This has nothing to do with japan or my trip there, but is simply a fascinating image of a sea urchin.

Its like a fabrege egg!