Media

Jeff Bridges and photography

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[VIDEO] It’s the Dude himself, extolling the virtue of the Widelux camera, amongst other things. Great video.

A must watch if you are at all a fan of Jeff Bridges or photography. Lovely.

Unfortunately, does not appear to work on iOS.

The birth of Bill Nye Science Guy

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[VIDEO] Everyone knows Bill Nye Science Guy, right?

Well, it turns out, he started his career on a Seattle comedy show called Almost Live. Almost Live was a sketch show, similar to Saturday Night Live, shown on the local Seattle NBC affiliate KING from 1984-1999.

Bill Nye was one of the Almost Live writers and periodically appeared in various sketches, sometimes as a speed walking superhero (one of his first repeating characters). But my favorite bit was when Bill would come on stage and do some science. In the beginning, the science was terrible, but fascinating. Over time, he got quite good at it and started to develop a national following.

Here’s an example (in the original post), where Bill returns to the show after he became famous. If you are interested in seeing some of his earliest stuff, go to YouTube and do a search for “Bill Nye Science Guy Almost Live”.

Elk vs photographer

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[VIDEO] A photographer was taking pictures in Great Smoky Mountains National Park when a bull elk approached. A dangerous situation. There’s sadness ahead, so watch the video without reading further if you want to keep it light.

The Amazon Prime price hike and what it means to Netflix

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I’m a big fan of Amazon Prime, have been since the very first day. The original goal of Prime was to build loyalty. If I’ve already paid my $79 for the year, I get free 2nd day shipping on anything I order through Amazon. And if I already have free 2nd day shipping and the price of an item is as low or lower than anywhere else I could buy it, why would I go elsewhere? Very smart. Here’s why I think the new price hike for Amazon Prime is OK with me and good for Netflix.

The cutting up of content

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Fantastic piece from MG Siegler on the trend of producing high quality content traditionally reserved for films, making it longer, then cutting it up for television or for web consumption.

Teleporter

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This site will teleport you around the globe, always to a picturesque spot. Click the Teleport button to make the next jump, click Map to switch to a zoomable map view so you can learn where you are. Much fun.

What to do in Canada

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[VIDEO] A supercut of all the things James O’Malley did when he visited Canada.

What, no poutine?

The lost short film George Lucas commissioned for Empire Strikes Back

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The title of the linked article is The Lost Star Wars Movie, but I think that’s a little misleading. This isn’t about any of the Star Wars worlds or characters. Nonetheless, it’s a very interesting read and certainly does have a connection to the making of Star Wars and, most closely, to George Lucas.

Incredibly fun text-to-speech demo

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Click the headline link and give this demo a try. There’s something about having an avatar, and the quality of the voices are great. Remember, no curse words. Oh, OK, go ahead. So much fun!

Apple TV Updated with Revamped Channel for this week’s iTunes Festival at SXSW

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In preparation for this week’s iTunes Festival at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2014, Apple has expanded its Apple TV lineup to include a revamped iTunes Festival channel that allows users to live stream the concert’s shows as well as view lineups and artist information.

The channel showcases artists who will be performing at the festival such as Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay, and Keith Urban, complete with artist bios and concert showtimes. Direct iTunes links to artist albums are featured as well, along with full details on opening acts.

Nice.

The moment when you realize they know the words

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[VIDEO] There is a moment in this video, a very emotional and poignant moment, when this singer becomes aware that the audience knows the words to her song. It’s a subtle thing, almost like a loss of innocence. I found it beautiful and rare.

Meet Chris Anderson, the head curator of TED Talks

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Ever wonder what TED stands for? Who decides what TED Talks to accept? Well wonder no more.

What began somewhat modestly in 1984 when the architect and designer Richard Saul Wurman summoned 300 friends and colleagues to Monterey, Calif., to discuss Technology, Entertainment and Design, now has more angles to it than a Mandelbrot set. Part of Mr. Anderson’s nonprofit Sapling Foundation, the organization has two annual conferences (this month’s includes 1,200 attendees from 42 countries), the free online collection of more than 1,600 TED Talks viewed nearly two billion times, a $100,000 TED Prize, a TED Fellows program and global education initiative, TED digital books, the TED Radio Hour and thousands of TEDx events in more than 150 countries (talks are translated into more than 104 languages).

Great article.