Media

George Lucas explains how he invented lightsabers

So very great. From The Verge’s post:

There’s one particularly interesting shot around two minutes into the video that shows Obi Wan Kenobi being run through by Darth Vader’s lightsaber. In Lucas’ cut of Episode IV, the blade passes through an ethereal Obi Wan; in the early shot, it rips through his cloak, leaving a trail of fire and the aging Jedi’s upper body hanging in the air as his lower body slumps to the floor.

Video of Woz surprising a young girl by hand-delivering her brand new Mac

[VIDEO] Steve Wozniak is such an incredibly nice, down-to-Earth person. This happened a few years ago, but the video was just put up on Saturday.

A few years ago, Steve and Janet Wozniak came to town to help us have a little fun with our kid Emma. Emma’s dad met them around the back of the block to give them Emma’s new iMac, and then they drove back around and rang the doorbell to deliver it…and shocked the heck out of Emma and her sister (who as Apple fankids immediately knew who he was) and friends (who only knew of him from “Dancing With The Stars”). Little sister Elizabeth got the iPod Touch as a “one more thing,” and Janet shot the video.

Steve’s known to be quite the practical joker, and it was very kind of him and Janet to spend the time to do this…and make a great memory for all of us.

He gave permission to put this up. We all hope you enjoy it.

Her reaction starts at about 2:30 in. Just a nice thing to do. You rock, Woz!

Wikipedia about to undergo a massive font retooling

From FastCoDesign:

Next Thursday, Wikipedia will launch a redesign that’s almost impossibly large in scope, scaling across 32,533,899 pages in 287 languages. But admittedly, it’ll take a sharp eye to notice that font size is larger, or that the section headers will render in authoritative, old media serif (think Georgia) while body copy will render in streamlined sans-serif (think Helvetica).

The invention of Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! will turn 50 this year and the version hosted by Alex Trebek will turn 30. Ken Jennings, one of the all time biggest winners on any game show ever, won more than $3 million on the show. In the linked post, Jennings interview the mother and creator of Jeopardy, Julann Griffin. Julan was married to Merv Griffin, who created Wheel of Fortune. Just saying.

Do it for Denmark

[VIDEO] Denmark’s campaign to get their folks to make new kids!

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ blog post on Net Neutrality

If discussions of net neutrality make your eyes glaze over, this is a good read. Clear and thoughtful, without being too parochial. I recognize that Netflix has a vested interest in how this plays out, but you can’t ignore the fact that Reed Hastings has a unique vantage point. He’s at the center of this storm.

All that said, here’s another read to balance things out, get a more objective point of view. Good to keep in mind that Netflix is a business, not a consumer service.

Team makes incredible fake Tesla ad, Elon Musk becomes a fan

[VIDEO] Now that’s one way to get someone’s attention! Everdream, a startup ad agency in LA, put together their vision of what a Tesla commercial could be.

Watch the embedded video. I think it perfectly captures the spirit of both Tesla and its founder. Bravo.

Louis C. K., Bradley Cooper, and a triple layer of genius

[VIDEO] The embedded video lays things out in three distinct pieces, so make sure you watch all the way through. The first piece is Louis C. K. starting things off with a premise. Then things get good. Then things get great.

World’s first book-less library inspired by Steve Jobs biography

To be clear, by book-less I mean an absence of printed books, a completely digital library. This is not the same as an internet cafe, a room filled with computers for general use. There actually is a library of eBooks for loan to library patrons. No waiting, and no late fees.

The real story behind Franklin W. Dixon, the fictional writer of the Hardy Boys books

I’ve always been a voracious reader. When I was a kid, I spent a good amount of time reading every single Hardy Boys book I could get my hands on.

This piece on the true nature of Franklin W. Dixon, whose name was on the cover of every one of these books, was crushing. Not just because Mr. Dixon was a complete fiction, but because of the appalling treatment of the people who actually did write these books.

There have been moments, as an adult, when I’ve thought about rereading one of the books, perhaps The Tower Treasure, which was the very first one. But after reading the linked article, not so much.

The busker’s gift

This is worth watching for two reasons. First, Nellie Niel is a street musician, down on his luck, but is an incredibly gifted slide guitarist. Just wow!

But enter Rob Chapman. Rob has a channel on YouTube, posted a video of Nellie on his channel, and actually made a nice bit of change on the post. It’s what he did next that got my attention and respect. Well done, Rob. Love this!

The man behind the Inflationary Universe Theory finds out his theory was just proven

[VIDEO] Stanford professor Andrei Linde is one of the main authors of the inflationary universe theory, a core explanation of what happened in the first moment of the Big Bang that created the universe.

As you no doubt have heard by now, yesterday a critical element of inflation was proved, at least experimentally, and the astrophysics world is giddy with excitement.

This video shows the moment when Professor Linde was told of these results, that his decades of hard work have finally borne fruit. A truly beautiful moment.

Apple’s former marketing chief on working with Steve Jobs, seminal product launches

Allison Johnson was the Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Communications at Apple from 2005-2011. She was one of a select few who reported directly to Steve Jobs and was responsible for memorable ad campaigns like “Mac vs. PC” and “There’s an app for that”. More importantly, Johnson helped develop a launch culture at Apple that saw lines around the block for products like the iPhone and iPad.

From the Vimeo page:

In this interview with Behance’s Scott Belsky, Johnson shares stories from her time at Apple, emphasizes authenticity in business, and reveals how we can find a balance between launching a polished product (like Apple) versus shipping fast for feedback (like Google).

This video gives an excellent sense of what it was like working with Steve Jobs and being at the center of the Apple universe during some particularly notable times, but it is more about marketing craft than it is about reminiscing. Lots to learn. Great to watch.