Panasonic Makes a Tokyo River Glow With 100,000 LED Lights, PSFK

Panasonic Makes a Tokyo River Glow With 100,000 LED Lights
15/05/2012 by Dylan Schenker for PSFK on Mashable

Imagine a glowing river lit up with the natural illumination of fireflies. The small insects flitting across the water reflecting upon it like a naturally created light show. This past weekend the Sumida River that runs through Tokyo was lit up by 100,000 LED lights for the Tokyo Hotaru Festival to commemorate the now scarce insects that used to bring the river to life. The balls of light which have been dubbed “Prayer Stars”.  were provided byPanasonic. They are 100% solar powered and were designed to activate when they come in contact with the water.

The photos from the installation, which was part of a larger display called Hikari no Symphony or Symphony of Light, the river peppered with the luminous blue dots making it come alive with a kinetic blue energy that surges from the water. Against the backdrop of the city it begins to look more like an optical wire conducting energy as part of some supercomputer more than it does a body of water.

Check out the video below to see the installation in action:

Source: Mashable

Yahoo Japan dips on reports of asset swap talks failure

Yahoo Japan dips on reports of asset swap talks failure

Jack Ma

Shares of Yahoo Japan fell 5% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on reports that talks regarding the swap of Yahoo's Asian assets had hit a stalemate.

Yahoo owns a 43% stake in China's Alibaba group, which it acquired in 2005 for $1bn (£636m), and a part of Yahoo Japan.

It had been negotiating a complex swap-deal that was expected to save it billions of dollars in taxes.

However, various reports indicated that no agreement had been reached.

"I think the deal is either dead or it's going to take a lot longer to complete, which means we don't have a near-term catalyst; hence the selloff," said Brett Harris, an analyst with Gabelli & Co.

'Another year of turmoil'
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The honeymoon is already over. Yahoo is probably looking at another year of turmoil”

Colin Gillis
BGC Financial
The stalemate in talks has come as a huge surprise.

Analysts and industry experts had expected the deal to be formalised, not least because trading in Alibaba's shares at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been suspended since 9 February.

The reported failure of the talks is a big blow for the Yahoo, which has been seeking to restructure its operations in a bid to boost its flagging fortunes.

The swap-deal, worth almost $17bn according to some estimates, was not only expected to save taxes, but also provide Yahoo with billions of dollars in cash.

Analysts said unless an agreement is reached soon, Yahoo may see its problems escalate further.

"The honeymoon is already over,'' said Colin Gillis an analyst with BGC Financial. "Yahoo is probably looking at another year of turmoil.''

More trouble
To make matters more complicated, Daniel Loeb, of hedge fund ThirdPoint, which owns more than 5% of Yahoo, launched a campaign to install his own directors on the firm's board.

"Installing the hand-picked choices of the current board does nothing to allay investor fears that Yahoo is poised to repeat the errors of its past,'' Mr Loeb wrote in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr Loeb's move comes just days after Yahoo announced changes to the board after Chairman Roy Bostock and three board member's quit.

Their exit followed that of Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder, who resigned from its board last month.

Yahoo said it had sought suggestions for new directors from several shareholders.

"We have received constructive suggestions from several of our major shareholders and, therefore, it is especially disappointing that Mr. Loeb has chosen a potentially disruptive path, just as the company is moving forward under new leadership to aggressively increase the value of Yahoo,'' the firm said in a statement.

Alibaba, shareholders, Daniel Loeb, Colin Gillis, Turmoil, Yahoo Japan, Alibaba group, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Yahoo Japan, Jack Ma, Shares of Yahoo

Source: BBC