5 ms·

Nathan Myhrvold appears to be a co-founder of Intellectual Ventures.

jwr 12y ago
Yes, Nathan Myhrvold is a well known patent troll. He should be called out for what he really does, instead of being called an "inventor".
- tzs 12y ago
  Why can't he be called both?
  - misuba 12y ago
    I'm reminded, maybe unfairly, of the moment just before Enron went under, when it suddenly realized that it'd probably be a good idea to have some actual assets and bought up a bunch of land to do sundry things with (mostly wind farms IIRC). Maybe Myhrvold had a premonition (prematurely, sad to say) that the legal shit concerning IV's business was about to hit the fan, and decided to diversify. There's zero evidence for this, but it's amusing.
    - tptacek 12y ago
      Myrvhold's engagement with modernist cooking predates IV.
tzs 12y ago
So? He also an amateur paleontologist whose work in that field has been published in Nature, has masters degrees in both space physics and mathematical economics, a PhD in theoretical physics, has worked as a postdoc for Stephen Hawking, is an award winning nature photographer, won first place at the Memphis barbecue championship, and is one volcano lair away from true mad scientist territory with his proposals for large scale geoengeering to deal with climate change. People at his level somehow manage to have both a very diverse set of interests and to excel at all of them. It's kind of annoying...I have a very diverse set of interests, and I suck at most of them. How do they do it?
- eitland 12y ago
  > People at his level somehow manage to have both a very diverse set of interests and to excel at all of them. I guess it helps a lot if you are really really rich and have time to do whatever you want for days on end. I also guess some people would say Nathan Myhrvold is rich partially because he is running a very successful extortion scheme (my mind is not made up.)
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - waterlesscloud 12y ago
    My guess is he's rich because his company got bought for $1.5 million in Microsoft stock in 1986.
- davidw 12y ago
  Looks like he won the BBQ championship by being on the team of people with some serious chops: http://modernistcuisine.com/2012/05/my-first-memphis-in-may/ http://modernistcuisine.com/2012/05/my-first-memphis-in-may/ Still, a pretty cool story. Here are my recent BBQ efforts.... not going to win any championships, but lots of people in Italy have never had any BBQ and it tastes pretty good: https://plus.google.com/+DavidWelton/posts/g73Vno46dDA https://plus.google.com/+DavidWelton/posts/g73Vno46dDA
deleted 12y ago
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jwr 12y ago

Yes, Nathan Myhrvold is a well known patent troll. He should be called out for what he really does, instead of being called an "inventor".

tzs 12y ago
Why can't he be called both?
- misuba 12y ago
  I'm reminded, maybe unfairly, of the moment just before Enron went under, when it suddenly realized that it'd probably be a good idea to have some actual assets and bought up a bunch of land to do sundry things with (mostly wind farms IIRC). Maybe Myhrvold had a premonition (prematurely, sad to say) that the legal shit concerning IV's business was about to hit the fan, and decided to diversify. There's zero evidence for this, but it's amusing.
  - tptacek 12y ago
    Myrvhold's engagement with modernist cooking predates IV.

tzs 12y ago

So? He also an amateur paleontologist whose work in that field has been published in Nature, has masters degrees in both space physics and mathematical economics, a PhD in theoretical physics, has worked as a postdoc for Stephen Hawking, is an award winning nature photographer, won first place at the Memphis barbecue championship, and is one volcano lair away from true mad scientist territory with his proposals for large scale geoengeering to deal with climate change. People at his level somehow manage to have both a very diverse set of interests and to excel at all of them. It's kind of annoying...I have a very diverse set of interests, and I suck at most of them. How do they do it?

eitland 12y ago
> People at his level somehow manage to have both a very diverse set of interests and to excel at all of them. I guess it helps a lot if you are really really rich and have time to do whatever you want for days on end. I also guess some people would say Nathan Myhrvold is rich partially because he is running a very successful extortion scheme (my mind is not made up.)
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- waterlesscloud 12y ago
  My guess is he's rich because his company got bought for $1.5 million in Microsoft stock in 1986.
davidw 12y ago
Looks like he won the BBQ championship by being on the team of people with some serious chops: http://modernistcuisine.com/2012/05/my-first-memphis-in-may/ http://modernistcuisine.com/2012/05/my-first-memphis-in-may/ Still, a pretty cool story. Here are my recent BBQ efforts.... not going to win any championships, but lots of people in Italy have never had any BBQ and it tastes pretty good: https://plus.google.com/+DavidWelton/posts/g73Vno46dDA https://plus.google.com/+DavidWelton/posts/g73Vno46dDA

deleted 12y ago

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