These days Paul Allen is largely known for his ridiculously oversized yacht, his lawsuits, and his quest for commercial space flight, but of course it was co-founding Microsoft with Bill Gates that gave him the billions necessary to do all that fun stuff in the first place. Now he’s looking back, writing a book called The Idea Man that, according to him, sets the record straight about the past — starting with the title. Between the covers he alternately praises Bill Gates, saying he’s “everything you’d want from a friend, caring and concerned,” and lambasts him for his “mercenary opportunism” and for trying to dilute his share in the company, saying Gates was “out to grab as much of the pie as possible and hold on to it.” Seems like Mr. Allen may have just burned a few bridges, but when you’re worth about billion that’s the sort of thing you can get away with.

In Idea Man, Paul Allen tells his side of co-founding Microsoft without pulling any punches originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maybe someday a human will walk on Mars. The last couple of generations has always told their children that they will be the ones to do it, but we’re still stuck on this planet. Anyway, 6 crazy Ruskies just emerged from a 1970’s Soviet-era testing facility after spending 105 days in isolation to simulate the voyage to Mars. I don’t know why some random Russian government agency spent so much money conducting this probably expensive experiment though. Don’t they get the reality TV show Big Brother over there?

All they had to do is turn on the crappy show Big Brother to find out what happens to people when they are isolated from the outside world and stuck with each other. They fight, throw food, and sleep around. That’s it. Money saved.

I’m mean, this test sounds just like the show.

They are locked in a wacky environment,

The interiors had hatches similar to a submarine’s and were paneled in faux wood according to Soviet style of the 1970s, when the structure was originally built for space-related experiments.

that’s equipped with everything needed to survive.

Common facilities included a gym and a small garden, and the modules were equipped with the new European and Russian exercise and training equipment for biomedical research. The crew also specially prepared meals and used toilets closely resembling those on the space station.

Plus, communication with the outside is limited.

They had no television or Internet and their only link to the outside world was communications with the experiment’s controllers — who also monitored them via TV cameras — and an internal e-mail system. Communications with the outside world had 20-minute delays to imitate a real space flight.

And just like the real Big Brother, they fight and sometimes fool around.

The experiment was the second for the institute, whose previous effort in 1999 ended in scandal when a Canadian woman complained of being forcibly kissed by a Russian captain and said that two Russian crew members had a fist fight that left blood splattered on the walls.

And who says that watching TV doesn’t teach you anything?

[Photo credit: AP]