Populuxe

Club Penguin toys

2008-11-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

Trying a few different ways to post from my iPhone. Thought i'd try
sending a picture. This one is of the Club Penguin toys we launched a
few weeks ago that I am really excited about. It's a sell out smash!

Trying out Blogpress

2008-11-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

It's a neat little iPhone app that let's you post to Blogger.

Holy crap! Chrome is getting faster

2008-11-04T06:44:00.000-08:00

CNET says Google Chrome is getting faster! The latest beta "Minefield" runs Javascript 37% faster than previous builds. If they keep this up, the really will replace desktop apps.

WSJ wants Disney to buy EA

2008-11-04T06:15:00.000-08:00

WSJ's Martin Peers thinks that Disney needs to buy EA. Its at a 62% discount to its peak value of $19B. On the surface, it seems like a great idea and I'm sure someone has to be thinking about this. Disney needs to build its business in interactive media and there is only so much it can do organically. What no one seems to be talking about are the downsides of EA. Its a sweatshop! And pretty much the polar opposite of the Pixar working environment. And it may just be too big to deliver the type of quality product Disney wants to make. Also, it would be huge distraction from brand Disney. The Hollywood Reporter article is right that there is a lot of synergy between ESPN and the Madden franchise as well as the rest of EA Sports. But what do you do with Command & Conquer or Warhammer? Disney decided long ago not to go into hard "M" titles, not because it couldn't come up with another banner for that like Touchstone or Mirimax but because consumers would still know its Disney behind it all and it detracts from the Disney brand. But beyond this, Disney has really benefitted in the last few years from the focus on being Disney. An EA merger could reverse all that and turn TWDC back into a unfocused conglomerate instead of a synergistic team.

And now a message from Mr. Subliminal

2008-11-04T06:11:00.000-08:00

Today is one of the most important days in American history (if you vote right). You will get the chance to vote for America's first black president (vote for him) or its oldest (dear god, please don't). No matter how you vote (Barack Obama) your choice (for Barack Obama) is important. So get out there and vote (for Barack Obama)!

Friedman wants you to vote for ( )

2008-11-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

Thomas Friedman has an excellent article on the consequences of the meltdown for the next president worth reading.

We are all going to have to pay, because this meltdown comes in the context of what has been “perhaps the greatest wealth transfer since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917,” says Michael Mandelbaum, author of “Democracy’s Good Name.” “It is not a wealth transfer from rich to poor that the Bush administration will be remembered for. It is a wealth transfer from the future to the present.”

Animal caught speeding

2008-11-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

The Giz was on a roll this week. Some guy in Germany wanted to speed but he knew he would get caught on camera so he wore a mask of Animal from The Muppets. Ha!

Sci Fi origami

2008-11-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

The Giz has a story about a guy who is making origami Star Wars and Star Trek spaceships out of dollar bills.

Magic Mirror

2008-11-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

Check this out. Some guy made a Magic Mirror like the one in Snow White. Neato!

Getting the story

2008-11-02T09:03:00.000-08:00

An exciting new book from Disney Animation about Story. Its the first in a series. Pre-order it here.

Here's Amazon's description:

"With an introduction by John Lasseter-and very little else in the way of words-this first book in The Artist Series lavishly showcases the most brilliant story artwork created by such luminaries as Bill Peet, Don DaGradi, Joe Rinaldi, Roy Williams, Ub Iwerks, Burny Mattison, and Vance Gerry for such films as Steamboat Willie and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Alice in Wonderland and 101 Dalmatians. The art will be displayed in its full glory with all the notes, flaws, and hole punches that were so much a part of the story development process. Featuring the best examples-many never published before-as well as some pieces by unidentified artists-Story will be the must-have art book for collectors, artists, and Disney fans."

I'm famous

2008-10-31T07:14:00.000-07:00

Really good article about our Toymorrow team at USA Today.

U-Command Wall-E hack

2008-10-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

Some guy bought the U-Command Wall-E RC toy and hacked it by adding servos and other components to make it a real robot. Looks like he added obstacle avoidance and some kind of 2D mapping although I don't know exactly how it works. Movement is very fast, maybe too fast. But very good job. The guy kind of shits on the toy in the video, but the version he made would be $150 retail or more. Mo' money, mo' motors.

AC/DC Rocks your spreadsheet

2008-10-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Oded wants Jesus for President

2008-10-25T10:42:00.001-07:00

Wooden Wall-E

2008-10-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

OMG! Its a wooden Wall-E made by sculptors Morpheus as a gift for John Lassiter.

Things that bug me about the iPhone

2008-10-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Okay so I told IT that I want to make the switch to the IPhone. After
testing for about two months, I finally got used to the keyboard. I am
not going to tell you it is as fast or as accurate as the Blackberry.
But I am back to the two thumb method and I am now reasonably quick
with it. One little tip I can give you is to look at your thumbs and
not atthe words. You will be a lot more accurate if you pay attention
to where your thumbs are going.

But there are still several things that bug me about iPhone and I
thought I would share them.

It's buggy - Apps crash for no reason even with the software. Even
with Apple apps. OS X is amazingly stable so it's a real surprise that
iPhone is so glitchy.

No search in e-mail. What were they thinking?

Doesn't automatically append phone numbers with the correct prefix
based on where you are. A nightmare for international numbers and
international travel. The Blackberry doesn't even have GPS and it has
this.

They took away update all on app updates. Now you have to do them one
at a time. Painful.

No horizontal keyboard in mail.

Often can't see attendees or notea on Exchange based meetings in
calendar.

Can't delete messages or mark e-mails as read when offline.

And of course....

Battery life sucks ass.

Say hi to your mother for me

2008-10-19T20:24:00.001-07:00

Oded stars in...Princess Diaries 3?

2008-10-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

My friend Oded made this video for an internal event and it is so funny he posted it on YouTube. Watch and enjoy.

19 more days

2008-10-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

And the Dow will hit zero. Obviously, all these companies are worth more than zero. I expect the bleeding on Wall Street will stop this week and people will start to realize that this has gotten out of control.

Are we headed for a depression? I'm getting scared.

One thing's for sure. We should put the regulations back in place and never repeal them again. We should put them in the Constitution. We knew better than this.

Kodak Winds of Change

2008-10-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

Kodak is back, bitch! Watch this. Its good.

State of Play

2008-10-05T08:54:00.001-07:00

Today it does not look good for McCain and so he has decided is going
to get "aggressive". Yesterday they attacked Obama for his association
in Chicago with William Ayers. It desperate and way off topic.

Those who are wondering what kind of president these two would be need
only look at how they have run their campaigns and how they have
reacted to the financial crisis. McCain has flailed with a different
strategy every week and is talking about every topic except the one
people want to talk about - the economy. His campaign is teetered on
bankrupcy. He's pulling out of states. And on both the economic crisis
and Georgia, he mouthed off and acted out and was very spastic and
disruptive.

Obama by contrast has stayed on strategy, kept calm and waited for the
facts to come out, and he executed a very well run campaign. He has
not reacted or been pulled into the muck even when his own party
(including me) were begging him to.

Which one looks like the better executive?

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain performing the theme from Shaft

2008-10-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Too weird not to post. Thanks Real Dan!

2008-10-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

From Gizmodo...Pioneer showed a neat demo at CEATAC of their "3D floating vision" technology which is basically a display with computer vision including object recognition. Here you see it recognizing a cell phone and transferring objects to it. Very cool. This stuff is the future. I have been looking at a lot of computer vision tech lately. Maybe one day soon I will do a post on it.

Bourdain as Cousin It

2008-10-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

Apparently Bourdain dug up an old photo of Ruhlman and made fun of his Flock of Seagulls do. In retaliation, Ruhlman posted this gruesome yearbook photo of Bourdain and as you can see, its pretty damning. Bourdain's reaction:

"Here I was, all blissed out, half-swacked on negronis and looking out over the canals of Venice, the golden hues of late afternoon playing on the water, my little girl nibbling happily on a biscotto by my knee. I was--to say the least--in a charitable mood, a happy, all-is-well-with-the-world kind of a mood. Draining the last bit of gin/vermouth/campari mix from my glass, I stepped into my palatial lodgings to check my e-mail. Some very disturbing and unsolicited inquiries from former fans of Tiny Tim, German trannies, and--judging from the spelling--stoned out hippie freaks. Apparently, still stinging from my perfectly reasonable and accurate observations regarding your supernaturally lustrous hair,you felt compelled to dig deep into my past, going so far as to burglarize my old high school.

Vengeance will be mine, Ruhlman. I have employed a most excellent and reputable firm of Venetian detectives who assure me that the photos of you--at the Kajagoogoo concert, 1986, will soon be in my hands.They tell me as well that that infommercial you made with Suzanne Sommers? Copies STILL exist."

John Hodgman on boing boing TV

2008-10-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Pimping his new book "More Information than you Require".