When I was in business school, one of the most common things I would hear people say was that they wanted to do something new—like start a company or take an unconventional career path—but that they needed “a great idea” first. That always surprised me a bit, especially at an entrepreneurial hub like Stanford, since most successful entrepreneurs don’t begin with brilliant ideas—they discover them.
Ironically, this would include the biggest business idea to come out of Stanford in decades. Google didn’t begin as a brilliant vision, but as a project to improve library searches, followed by a series of small discoveries that unlocked a revolutionary business model. → Read More
Ever wonder what a Technical Director of Pixar does in his free time? Well, in the case of Oren Jacob, the answer is: things that begin with “competitive”. Not only has Oren – along with his wife Justine and filmmaker Alex De Silva – recently completed a film called ‘Ready, Set, Bag’ about competitive grocery bagging but he’s also a competitive gardener. He grows things that are as big as I am, such as giant 140lb-ish pumpkins. In the video, you’ll see something huge and green that’s the weight of some five year old children. His journey into competitive gardening wasn’t planned, but he’s found it quite enjoyable during his free moments away from work.
In a way, Ready, Set Bag is tied into the competitive gardening thing too, but you’ll have to watch the video (below) to find out why. Sufficed to say, sometimes life presents you with very interesting opportunities if you are willing to see them and act on them.
Along their journey, the filmmakers discovered an innovative way to change how independent films are distributed while raising money for charities. Not only are they the first independent filmmakers to distribute their film using Groupon to sell tickets but they also give $1.00 for each ticket sold to the local food bank where the Groupon offer was redeemed. → Read More
It’s safe to say that Toy Story is still Pixar’s biggest, most beloved franchise. The third movie, which Biggs inexplicably reviewed the other day—should I review the new Roots album here?— took home some $109 million at the weekend. That’s Pixar’s biggest opening weekend ever. The other big, animated feature of the year, Shrek Forever After, only took home $71 million its first weekend. → Read More
Tokyo-based gadget maker Greenhouse announced [JP] three super-cute, Disney-themed digital photo frames today, the GH-DF35TV. Buyers can choose between three characters: Winnie The Pooh, Stitch or Little Green Man (one of those green, three-eyed aliens from Toy Story 1 and 2). → Read More
Be honest, you kind of want to see Toy Story 3. I mean, even though the film doesn’t natively support IMAX 3D and will have to be remastered, it should still be amazing on the huge screens. → Read More
(Note: this is a really sad post, so just skip it if you’d prefer to avoid that type of thing.) Everyone should now add Pixar to their list of companies they Don’t Hate. There was a little girl in California who was suffering from a rare type of cancer. She had only a few days left in her when her mother called Pixar. You see, the little girl, Colby Curtin, age 10, wanted desperately to see the movie Up. → Read More
Looks like the eponymous bot in Pixar’s acclaimed new movie “WALL-E” is a dirty, dirty pirate. Apparently the robot code doesn’t prohibit you from harming an artist’s livelihood. One astute Canadian watcher notes (names have been X’ed out for plot-protection): 1. WALL-E records audio from his favorite movie, XXXXXXXXXXX, putting in onto his own digital recorder (bypassing the macrovision DRM on the tape). A COPYRIGHT CRIME UNDER C-61 2. WALL-E archives the audio, he doesn’t merely time-shift it. He listens repeatedly! A COPYRIGHT CRIME UNDER C-61 3. WALL-E shares his DRM-broken music with his friend, another robot named XXXXX. A COPYRIGHT CRIME UNDER C-61 This reflects very poorly on Pixar. Shameful! [via BoingBoing] → Read More
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x4oqpf I’m sure you’ve all seen trailers for this movie, but this is the final one before the movie is to be released in late June and I thought I’d share. The HD version can be found here. via TechAmok → Read More
Did the MacBook Air debut in Pixar’s The Incredibles? No. No it did not. I didn’t know so many people on the Internet were English majors, looking for meaning in things where there isn’t any. Pixar Movies revealing Apple secrets? [9 to 5 Mac] → Read More
Just thought I’d let everyone know that Pixar has released Volume 1 (2004) of its short film collection, which includes favorites from Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and Toy Story. Tell the wife you’re getting it for the kids when in reality you’re getting it for yourself. Product Page [via Kottke] → Read More
Not all 3-D movies are terrible, but most are rehashed pre-teen jokes with adult innuendos and crappy voice overs. While waiting for Spiderman 3 to start, I had to sit through two previews for PG-rated 3-D animal flicks (yes, one included penguins). I thought that was bad, until I read this Reuters report. Apparently, next year and into 2009, almost every studio will be releasing multiple 3-D flicks, with the majority of them geared at the younger crowd. DreamWorks, Pixar, and the whole gang of studios will all be unleashing multitudes of crap upon the silver screen and this we must endure. → Read More
