Tokyo and tech through the eyes of a split pea

myGengo interviewed on Pokya!

Joseph Tame graciously interviewed Rob and I for a podcast piece on myGengo. I think this is my first podcast interview, evah. We had a lot of fun – those of you who have visited Co-lab know about the nice roof-top terrace, which is where we did the recording.
We discuss everything from doing [...]

2kurabe “Web Directions East 2008″-themed widget!

In collaboration with the folks at Web Directions East and in anticipation of their first conference in Japan, we’ve put together a 2kurabe widget with a custom “skin” (theme)!

At the moment there is only one 2kurabe, but more will appear automatically as the WDE team adds them.

[...]

Music Industry First – Major Label releases tracks under Creative Commons!

My current project, Otorevo, which I’ve written about before here, here, and here, has decided to release the winning band’s vocal tracks under a Creative Commons license. You can read the Japanese introduction and download the tracks. We’re running a remix contest for the next 6 weeks, so be sure to submit your work!
Supposedly this [...]

Good Crew releases a music video

Good Crew releases a PV! (PV = “promotional video” in Japanese English parlance).
Give it a spin, then let me share how much was spent on making it:

15,000 yen.
Update: The YouTube link is here. Thanks Gen!

音レボリューション

Update (9.17.07):  産経新聞の記事が出ましたので、ご覧下さい。
Quote of the Month:
I’m beginning to suspect there are two “Matts” – because you never sleep, man!
Apologies to those of you who haven’t heard from me in a while.  This quote is in response to my work on a project called 音レボリューション、 or 音レボ for short.  Here’s an old interview with the current [...]

Surprise! ATRAC on its way out!

Sony’s Connect service, which saw its writing on the wall even before it was officially launched, is now officially shutting down.  And Sony’s longtime controversial proprietary audio codec ATRAC is headed to the trash.  Surprise, surprise :)
Readers of M@Blog may recall a few entries I posted while working in Sony’s Audio Codec Development Group – [...]

２くらべのうちわがきました！

２くらべのうちわが今朝２００枚届きました！渋谷近辺で配る予定です。欲しい方はメールでご連絡ください！

MiiStation in Time.com Best 50 for 2007!

Today feels like April Fool’s Day.  MiiStation in a Time.com list?  But it looks legit, and I’m surprised and flattered that our very own MiiStation.com made it onto Time.com’s 50 Best Websites for 2007 (though we’re only 1/2 way through the year :).  You can read our entry, right along side the likes of Bix, [...]

what is it with people’s negativity?

Two and half months after MiiStation’s release, this kind of drivel was submitted through our contact form:
“you guys are a cheap money making scheme. anybody who comes to you is either blind and cant make a mii, or slightly retarded. its extremely easy to make a mii, i made one in 10 minutes flat. why [...]

MiiStation in the Wall Street Journal

You may have already heard that one of our projects, MiiStation (where we offer to make a Mii avatar on Nintendo’s Wii console), was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal.  The article discusses businesses sprouting up around the Mii concept and brought in a wave of orders this weekend, helping us make one particularly [...]