Potential means it ain't worth sh** yet
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Pachinko's Influence in Japan - Korea - US Relations
Last night I had an early Thanksgiving with my colleague and good friend at Mitsui, Yoichi Asai. Yoichi is cool Japanese dude who just came to the US a few months back. He was "dispatched", as they say in JENGLISH (Japanese English), to the US to fulfill his training duty. Sometimes when I hear such words, I feel that I am part of some secret military force that is covertly sending agents to the US to gather information. In fact, I may not be far off. In the 1980's, it was well regarded that the Japanese trading firms had the best access to global information.
Asai-San and I started the night with a bowl of ramen at our favorite place Halu Ramen. Halu is Japanese for nice day and that it was a nice day. We then decided that we should drink large amounts of Asahi Dry and discuss the internal strategy of Mitsui. After finishing several beers we then decided to go across the street to a German Beer House called Harry's Hofbrau. Harry's is located next to my apartment and it has always touched my curiousity but I had never gone before.
So after we went in we ordered pints of Harry's Authentic German brew. In addition, they had a cafeteria line filled with turkey dinner helpings so I thought it would be culturally polite to show him what a typical T-Giving dinner is. So I ordered a few turkey legs and we gobbled them down.
Before coming to the US, Yoichi sold Pachinko chips with a Japanese subsidiary. So in the middle of our feast, we began to discuss Pachinko as a cultural phenomenom in Japan. Yoichi taught me some very interesting facts including that Pachinko industry is as big as the food industry in Japan, about $230Bn. I thought that was amazing! Also, Pachinko chips were made by two companies, one of them is Freescale which owns 50% of the market and that was one of the most profitable business lines for that unit.
Further and most interestingly, Pachinko Parlors are very much controlled by Koreans, both South and North. In fact, North Korea receives a very large amount of money from Japanese Pachinko houses. They earn so much that it would significantly impact North Korean's wealth if they were to lose this flow of money.
So let's look into strategic moves by the two countries. If Japan puts more pressure to regulate Pachinko, North Korea will retailiate by sending a missle over Japan so Japan will not do this. If North Korea makes any attack at Japan, then Japan will cut off Pachinko Money and North Korea will lose much access to wealth. This to me sounds like the ultimate strategic equilibrium.
But let's see how the US now plays a role. If Freescale decide to cut off production of Pachinko chips or sell the division that results in a decrease in chip supply, this will put supply pressure on the Pachinko machine production. Less Pachinko machines, means less Pachinko players and less money to North Korea. So Freescale, whether or not they know it is playing a very profound part of the equation.
Now let me bring up another very strange fact to this. During the North Korean uproar and threat of power there was one very large business transaction. That transaction was the taking private of Freescale by Blackstone, TPG, and Carlyle who are notorious for chopping up business divisions after buyouts. The transaction was consummated on September 16th and KIM tested his nucleur bomb on October 3rd.
It is in my opinion that KIM was making a direct threat to George Bush, who is a major shareholder in Carlyle. That threat was not please do not attack me; that threat was do not shut off my Pachinko Machines or I will attack you. If I were Freescale, I would have called up KIM and said you let us sell Motorola phones in your country and we won't touch your Pachinko Chips.
It seems to me that no one got this at all.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Kurtism: Defining Success
Success should not be defined by how much $$ you make but by the difference on society that you make.
In America, unfortunately, those who impart a great influence on our society, such as teachers, are highly unaccounted for.
In America, unfortunately, those who impart a great influence on our society, such as teachers, are highly unaccounted for.
PeopleSupport 2x
KD continues to think that cross border investment opportunities are ripe and available for investment. Just now has globalization really created mass scale businesses and there will be more to come. Earlier this year KD speculated that PSPT, peoplesupport, was highly undervaled, trading at 9x P/E. The call center business has aggressively shifted from US to low cost labor in India and Philippinnes. And most recently, the Phils has won over business from India. With this simple insight, KD made a bet on PSPT at $8.90. Today the stock trades at $21 and he will take that gamble to the bank.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
It is the Chocolate!
Today I realized that now I have 4 viewers on my blog. My two good friends and colleagues, Stephen Lee and Bert Navarrrrrrrete, have a feed and some Italian wine lover called Vigoure read my wine blog. That is awesome!!!
The blog dated November 1st discussed the effects that wine had on the lives of mice. In that blog, I pontificated that perhaps it is the chocolate that made the mice live longer, not that wine. Behold, I may have been correct. Read the article below that in short says that eating chocolate once a day may reduce platelet clumping which often clogs arteries and causes heart attacks. So it is now up to you to indulge in Chocolate eating or wine drinking to increase your life span. I think that I will do both!!
Does anyone have recommendations on good, low sugar, chocolate. I prefer dark.
Kurt
Take heart, chocolate lovers
Canadian Press
Perhaps being a “chocoholic” isn't such a bad thing after all, at least when it comes to your heart.
It turns out that some chocolate aficionados taking part in a study investigating blood platelet clumping couldn't stick to a promise to temporarily give up their sweet of choice — and they inadvertently ended up doing medical science a favour.
Their dietary offence led researchers to uncover what may be the first biochemical explanation underlying the confection's effect in preventing cardiovascular disease: just a few squares of chocolate a day can cut the risk of dying from a heart attack almost in half.
“What these chocolate ‘offenders' taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to Aspirin (ASA) in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack,” lead author Diane Becker of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said in a statement.
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That doesn't mean that people should start indulging in lots of chocolate candy, which often contains unhealthy quantities of sugar, butter and cream, stressed Dr. Becker, who presented the study findings Tuesday at the American Heart Association's annual scientific sessions in Chicago.
But as little as 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) a day of dark chocolate — made from the dried extract of roasted cocoa beans and considered the purest form — could have a heart-healthy effect.
Dark chocolate is chockablock with flavonoids, which have long been known to lower blood pressure and have other beneficial effects on blood flow. The study identified the effects of typical doses of chocolate found in ordinary foods, unlike previous studies that found decreased platelet activity only at super doses of flavonoids equivalent to eating kilograms of chocolate a day.
“Eating a little bit of chocolate or having a drink of hot cocoa as part of a regular diet is probably good for personal health, so long as people don't eat too much of it — and too much of the kind with lots of butter and sugar,” Dr. Becker said.
The Genetic Study of Aspirin Responsiveness (GeneSTAR), conducted at Johns Hopkins between June 2004 and November 2005, began by enrolling more than 500 men and 700 women, aged 21 to 80, to examine the effects of ASA on blood platelets.
Prior to starting an ASA regimen, participants were to stay on a strict program of exercise and to refrain from smoking or using foods and drinks known to affect platelet activity, including caffeine-containing drinks, wine, grapefruit juice — and chocolate.
When 139 participants were disqualified for the main study after admitting to eating chocolate, the researchers decided to analyze their blood to determine chocolate's effect on platelets.
When platelet samples from both compliers and non-compliers were analyzed, researchers found that the chocolate lovers' platelets were less reactive, taking on average 130 seconds to clog up a mechanical blood vessel system. Platelets from those who avoided chocolate clotted faster, at 123 seconds.
A second test, designed to detect waste products from platelet activity in urine, showed that chocolate eaters had significantly lower activity and waste products on average compared with chocolate abstainers. In all, more than 200 different tests of platelet reactivity were performed.
Although none of the chocolate offenders had previous heart problems, all had a slightly increased risk of heart disease because of family history.
“These results really bring home the point that a modest dietary practice can have a huge impact on blood and potentially on the health of people at a mildly elevated risk of heart disease,” said study co-author Dr. Nauder Faraday. “But we have to be careful to emphasize that one single healthy dietary practice cannot be taken alone, but must be balanced with exercise and other healthy lifestyle practices that impact the heart.”
The blog dated November 1st discussed the effects that wine had on the lives of mice. In that blog, I pontificated that perhaps it is the chocolate that made the mice live longer, not that wine. Behold, I may have been correct. Read the article below that in short says that eating chocolate once a day may reduce platelet clumping which often clogs arteries and causes heart attacks. So it is now up to you to indulge in Chocolate eating or wine drinking to increase your life span. I think that I will do both!!
Does anyone have recommendations on good, low sugar, chocolate. I prefer dark.
Kurt
Take heart, chocolate lovers
Canadian Press
Perhaps being a “chocoholic” isn't such a bad thing after all, at least when it comes to your heart.
It turns out that some chocolate aficionados taking part in a study investigating blood platelet clumping couldn't stick to a promise to temporarily give up their sweet of choice — and they inadvertently ended up doing medical science a favour.
Their dietary offence led researchers to uncover what may be the first biochemical explanation underlying the confection's effect in preventing cardiovascular disease: just a few squares of chocolate a day can cut the risk of dying from a heart attack almost in half.
“What these chocolate ‘offenders' taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to Aspirin (ASA) in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack,” lead author Diane Becker of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said in a statement.
Related to this article
Articles
Pleasure & peril
More bitter than sweet for Hershey recall
Latest Comments
We evolved to like food that's good for us. Anything that tastes...
Chocolate: the forgotten food group.
The only problem is that most cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast...
Why don't you just eat raw cacao beans (the real chocolate) which...
19 reader comments | Join the conversation
That doesn't mean that people should start indulging in lots of chocolate candy, which often contains unhealthy quantities of sugar, butter and cream, stressed Dr. Becker, who presented the study findings Tuesday at the American Heart Association's annual scientific sessions in Chicago.
But as little as 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) a day of dark chocolate — made from the dried extract of roasted cocoa beans and considered the purest form — could have a heart-healthy effect.
Dark chocolate is chockablock with flavonoids, which have long been known to lower blood pressure and have other beneficial effects on blood flow. The study identified the effects of typical doses of chocolate found in ordinary foods, unlike previous studies that found decreased platelet activity only at super doses of flavonoids equivalent to eating kilograms of chocolate a day.
“Eating a little bit of chocolate or having a drink of hot cocoa as part of a regular diet is probably good for personal health, so long as people don't eat too much of it — and too much of the kind with lots of butter and sugar,” Dr. Becker said.
The Genetic Study of Aspirin Responsiveness (GeneSTAR), conducted at Johns Hopkins between June 2004 and November 2005, began by enrolling more than 500 men and 700 women, aged 21 to 80, to examine the effects of ASA on blood platelets.
Prior to starting an ASA regimen, participants were to stay on a strict program of exercise and to refrain from smoking or using foods and drinks known to affect platelet activity, including caffeine-containing drinks, wine, grapefruit juice — and chocolate.
When 139 participants were disqualified for the main study after admitting to eating chocolate, the researchers decided to analyze their blood to determine chocolate's effect on platelets.
When platelet samples from both compliers and non-compliers were analyzed, researchers found that the chocolate lovers' platelets were less reactive, taking on average 130 seconds to clog up a mechanical blood vessel system. Platelets from those who avoided chocolate clotted faster, at 123 seconds.
A second test, designed to detect waste products from platelet activity in urine, showed that chocolate eaters had significantly lower activity and waste products on average compared with chocolate abstainers. In all, more than 200 different tests of platelet reactivity were performed.
Although none of the chocolate offenders had previous heart problems, all had a slightly increased risk of heart disease because of family history.
“These results really bring home the point that a modest dietary practice can have a huge impact on blood and potentially on the health of people at a mildly elevated risk of heart disease,” said study co-author Dr. Nauder Faraday. “But we have to be careful to emphasize that one single healthy dietary practice cannot be taken alone, but must be balanced with exercise and other healthy lifestyle practices that impact the heart.”
Friday, November 03, 2006
On Fire #2: Funmobility
FunMobility Named by Deloitte & Touche as One of the Fastest Growing Technology Companies in the Country
'Fast 50' Award Recognizes FunMobility's Growth and Success in the Wireless Sector; Company ranks 8th in Media and Internet in Silicon Valley; 122nd in North America
PLEASANTON, Calif., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- FunMobility, Inc., a leading developer and publisher of wireless entertainment technology for wireless carriers and mobile phone users, has been named to Deloitte & Touche's Technology Fast 50, a compilation the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the Silicon Valley region. The company was also named to Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 for being one of the 500 fastest growing tech companies throughout the USA and Canada. Both awards are based on measurements of each company's percentage revenue growth over the past five years. With five-year growth rate of more than 1600%, FunMobility ranked 8th in its regional category, and 122nd in North America.
"This is an tremendous accomplishment, especially considering we're participating in the most competitive technology market in the country," said Adam Lavine, FunMobility's CEO. "I'm very proud of our team for the dedication they've shown, and we feel the best is yet to come."
"To rank on Deloitte's Technology Fast 50, companies must have phenomenal revenue growth over five years," said Mark Jensen, National Director of the Venture Capital Services Group for Deloitte & Touche LLP. "FunMobility has proven to be one of the fast-growth success stories in Silicon Valley, and we applaud their dedication to making their vision a reality."
The Technology Fast 50 award is given to the top 50 performers in each of 16 regions across the USA and Canada. Winners from these regions are automatically entered in The Technology Fast 500, with the top 500 firms receiving the additional recognition.
About FunMobility
FunMobility is a company dedicated to revolutionizing how people use their mobile phones to interact with multimedia content and each other by providing applications and services that enable creativity, personalization, and community building. FunMobility's FLEX Mobile Application Platform(TM) is comprised of interchangeable modules featuring content, applications, and services supported by proprietary implementation technology. These modules can be deployed as a complete solution, or as stand-alone components that work within a carrier's existing mobile services offering, providing carriers with unparalleled flexibility, greater reliability, and faster time-to-market. FunMobility provides carriers with some of the industry's most popular and successful mobile applications, including Wallpaper Universe(TM), America's Best Mobile Pix(TM), Ringtones Universe(TM) TrueTones Universe(TM), Mobile Comics Network(TM), Personalized Wallpaper(TM), MyTonz(TM), MyScreenz(TM), Imagenes Calientes(TM) and FunMobility Animated Greetings(TM). FunMobility's mobile applications and services are distributed through major carriers across the globe, including, Verizon Wireless, Alltel, Sprint PCS, U.S. Cellular, Cingular Wireless, and many others. FunMobility has achieved an industry reputation for creativity, innovation and reliability, and is considered one of the industry's most unique wireless entertainment companies. For more information, please visit www.FunMobility.com .
'Fast 50' Award Recognizes FunMobility's Growth and Success in the Wireless Sector; Company ranks 8th in Media and Internet in Silicon Valley; 122nd in North America
PLEASANTON, Calif., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- FunMobility, Inc., a leading developer and publisher of wireless entertainment technology for wireless carriers and mobile phone users, has been named to Deloitte & Touche's Technology Fast 50, a compilation the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the Silicon Valley region. The company was also named to Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 for being one of the 500 fastest growing tech companies throughout the USA and Canada. Both awards are based on measurements of each company's percentage revenue growth over the past five years. With five-year growth rate of more than 1600%, FunMobility ranked 8th in its regional category, and 122nd in North America.
"This is an tremendous accomplishment, especially considering we're participating in the most competitive technology market in the country," said Adam Lavine, FunMobility's CEO. "I'm very proud of our team for the dedication they've shown, and we feel the best is yet to come."
"To rank on Deloitte's Technology Fast 50, companies must have phenomenal revenue growth over five years," said Mark Jensen, National Director of the Venture Capital Services Group for Deloitte & Touche LLP. "FunMobility has proven to be one of the fast-growth success stories in Silicon Valley, and we applaud their dedication to making their vision a reality."
The Technology Fast 50 award is given to the top 50 performers in each of 16 regions across the USA and Canada. Winners from these regions are automatically entered in The Technology Fast 500, with the top 500 firms receiving the additional recognition.
About FunMobility
FunMobility is a company dedicated to revolutionizing how people use their mobile phones to interact with multimedia content and each other by providing applications and services that enable creativity, personalization, and community building. FunMobility's FLEX Mobile Application Platform(TM) is comprised of interchangeable modules featuring content, applications, and services supported by proprietary implementation technology. These modules can be deployed as a complete solution, or as stand-alone components that work within a carrier's existing mobile services offering, providing carriers with unparalleled flexibility, greater reliability, and faster time-to-market. FunMobility provides carriers with some of the industry's most popular and successful mobile applications, including Wallpaper Universe(TM), America's Best Mobile Pix(TM), Ringtones Universe(TM) TrueTones Universe(TM), Mobile Comics Network(TM), Personalized Wallpaper(TM), MyTonz(TM), MyScreenz(TM), Imagenes Calientes(TM) and FunMobility Animated Greetings(TM). FunMobility's mobile applications and services are distributed through major carriers across the globe, including, Verizon Wireless, Alltel, Sprint PCS, U.S. Cellular, Cingular Wireless, and many others. FunMobility has achieved an industry reputation for creativity, innovation and reliability, and is considered one of the industry's most unique wireless entertainment companies. For more information, please visit www.FunMobility.com .
On Fire #1: Integrian
Integrian #1 in Southeast:
From Pete Durand CEO, "Last night, Integrian was honored to receive the award for the Fastest Growing Company in the region, as determined by Price Waterhouse Coopers and the Triangle Business Journal. The event was the “Fast 50” awards Gala at the Embassy Suites in Cary, NC. There were 650 people in attendance in an “Oscars” type atmosphere. The 50 companies were ranked 1-50 and they did a countdown format by announcing #50 all the way through #1. The best part is that nobody knew who the winner would be. The tension mounted as fantastic company after fantastic company was honored, yet the question remained – “Who is #1?”. Finally, they announced Integrian as the fastest growing company, and played a very professional video about the business. I was honored to accept the award on behalf of all of our employees worldwide.
The real honor is how the award was determined. Rather than a popularity contest, this reward is based on actual financial data, reviewed by PWC and crunched in an objective formula. So, based on % revenue growth, $ revenue growth, and profit growth over the past three years, Integrian was the fastest growing company of the 50 finalists – and there were hundreds of companies reviewed."
From Pete Durand CEO, "Last night, Integrian was honored to receive the award for the Fastest Growing Company in the region, as determined by Price Waterhouse Coopers and the Triangle Business Journal. The event was the “Fast 50” awards Gala at the Embassy Suites in Cary, NC. There were 650 people in attendance in an “Oscars” type atmosphere. The 50 companies were ranked 1-50 and they did a countdown format by announcing #50 all the way through #1. The best part is that nobody knew who the winner would be. The tension mounted as fantastic company after fantastic company was honored, yet the question remained – “Who is #1?”. Finally, they announced Integrian as the fastest growing company, and played a very professional video about the business. I was honored to accept the award on behalf of all of our employees worldwide.
The real honor is how the award was determined. Rather than a popularity contest, this reward is based on actual financial data, reviewed by PWC and crunched in an objective formula. So, based on % revenue growth, $ revenue growth, and profit growth over the past three years, Integrian was the fastest growing company of the 50 finalists – and there were hundreds of companies reviewed."
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Blog and a Glass of Wine
Scientific news today has almost confirmed that drinking wine helps you live longer. While this has been speculated for several years, several Stanford scientists have proven that mice that eat large amounts of chocolate cake and drink lots of wine live longer than mice who have an ordinary diet. This research must be great because it is from Stanford and so is Google, Yahoo, and many more great things. But how do we know it is not the chocolate cake that help the mice live longer or that they only fed hamburger helper to the other mice? Think about it.
Well, regardless, i've decided to blog and drink a glass of cheap Pinot Noir and Jacob's Creek Wine. The wine has made me reluctantly accept that only two people have read my blog and they have not come back. But that is ok, I do it for the love. Or perhaps because I have nothing else to do.
The Shiraz is like a cold refreshing glass of Boone's. What is Boone's? You obviously did not get out much in High School. Boone's was bottle wine that cost $1.19 and for whatever reason, any 16 year old in South Carolina could get ahold of it. I think it is because the local convenient store could not get rid of the inventory.
The Pinot Noir is nothing more comparable than a glass of Thunderbird wine. Thunderbird never broke the $.99 threshhold for a bottle and it tasted as though someone squashed grapes in a glass and mixed it with moonshine. But let me tell you, there was nothing like it on a Friday night, roasted marshmellows, and getting down on the farm.
I'd be happy to hear about your "Blog and Wine" posts. Feel free to tell me about your best Boone's stories.
Well, regardless, i've decided to blog and drink a glass of cheap Pinot Noir and Jacob's Creek Wine. The wine has made me reluctantly accept that only two people have read my blog and they have not come back. But that is ok, I do it for the love. Or perhaps because I have nothing else to do.
The Shiraz is like a cold refreshing glass of Boone's. What is Boone's? You obviously did not get out much in High School. Boone's was bottle wine that cost $1.19 and for whatever reason, any 16 year old in South Carolina could get ahold of it. I think it is because the local convenient store could not get rid of the inventory.
The Pinot Noir is nothing more comparable than a glass of Thunderbird wine. Thunderbird never broke the $.99 threshhold for a bottle and it tasted as though someone squashed grapes in a glass and mixed it with moonshine. But let me tell you, there was nothing like it on a Friday night, roasted marshmellows, and getting down on the farm.
I'd be happy to hear about your "Blog and Wine" posts. Feel free to tell me about your best Boone's stories.
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