For every major event in the news, there’s someone who believes it’s a conspiracy… so why would the attack on the Death Star be any different? The guys over at Debunking911 have a great satiracal piece about this monumental Star Wars event; it was an inside job. It’s funniest if you (a) actually remember Star Wars, (b) are kind of a nerd, and (c) are familiar with “real” conspiracy theories (like the ones surrounding 9/11… video: 1, 2, 3, 4).
And so the Death Star conspiracy goes:
We’ve all heard the “official conspiracy theory” of the Death Star attack. We all know about Luke Skywalker and his ragtag bunch of rebels, how they mounted a foolhardy attack on the most powerful, well-defended battle station ever built. And we’ve all seen the video over, and over, and over, of the one-in-a-million shot that resulted in a massive chain reaction that not just damaged, but completely obliterated that massive technological wonder.
Like many, I was fed this story when I was growing up. But as I watched the video, I began to realize that all was not as it seemed. And the more I questioned the official story, the deeper into the rabbit hole I went.
Yeah, Slashdot picked this up already, but it’s still worth posting. Gizmodo has a set of 3 videos that show the workings of the Lego factory. They also have a tour of the secret Lego vault.
This video shows something that very few people have had the opportunity to witness: the inside of the Lego factory, with no barriers or secrets. I filmed every step in the creation of the brick. From the raw granulate stored in massive silos to the molding machines to the gigantic storage cathedrals to the decoration and packaging warehouses, you will be able to see absolutely everything, including the most guarded secret of the company: the brick molds themselves.
Click HERE to read the full story and watch the videos.
Click HERE to watch the tour of the Lego secret vault.
My friend Rob (whom I share an office at work with) made the mistake of sending me the following picture, which I couldn’t resist turning into a motivational poster. I’m just having trouble coming up with the perfect tag line… Comments welcome.
Den of Geek has an interesting interview with Angus MacLane, Pixar’s supervising animator of Wall-E. He reveils plenty of good insights into the development process of Wall-E, but my favorite parts are about the software (of course):
[Interviewer] And does the software you use alter much as you go along, over a three year production cycle?
[Angus] The software for the actual execution of the film doesn’t change that much. Because you really need to lock it to one piece of software. Maybe there’ll be an update here and there, and they’ll be individual sub-programs developed. For example there was a program developed for Wall E just to get his treads to lock to the ground, so they recognise the ground and wrap around and drive as you translate him along. That was technology that was developed as an offshoot from a very similar program from Cars, in keeping the tyres on the ground. But that’s about as automated as we get. Everything else is pretty much hand animated.
I also liked this little tidbit:
[Interviewer] Finally, for anyone looking to break into animation, what advice would you give them?
[Angus] I would say be persistent, and keep trying. A friend of mine, he’s a music composer, he’d got some advice from an old pro when he started. And the old pro said to him that people who succeed in the business are not those that are the most talented, and they’re not the people that know the most people, but they are the people who are able to endure. I think that there’s something profound about that. It’s the old saying, it doesn’t happen by mistake: it’s opportunity met with preparation. So when you get the opportunity, make sure you’re prepared.
It’s been said that managing engineers is like trying to herd cats: we’re independent, suspicious, and we only do things because we want to. I was reminded this week about a great ad that aired during the SuperBowl a few years back… all about cat herding. Enjoy!
(requires Adobe Flash plugin… click HERE to watch it on YouTube)
It’s like a scene out of the movie Madagascar… from the Associated Press:
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Amsterdam police say 15 camels, two zebras and an undetermined number of llamas and potbellied swine briefly escaped from a traveling Dutch circus after a giraffe kicked a hole in their cage.
Police spokesman Arnout Aben says the animals wandered in a group through a nearby neighborhood for several hours after their 5:30 a.m. breakout.
The animals were back at the circus later Monday after being rounded up by police and circus workers with the assistance of dogs. Aben says neighbors fed some of the animals — which he said was a bad idea — but they were tame and nobody was hurt.
I have to agree with Bruce Schneier, “Are llamas really that hard to count?”.
Well, the French saved our butts during the Revolutionary War… I’ll give them credit for that (read more on Wikipedia). However, I still like to poke fun at them. Happy 4th!!!
I found this great site MoBuck.com that allows you to easily create your own motivational posters. For $1, you can download a high-resolution version, and for $14 they will send you a 8.5 x 11 inch print. It’s a lot of fun.
Here’s a Mr. T poster I made about not breaking the software build:
Tom Distler is a senior software engineer at Pelco. He has a beautiful wife and a strapping baby boy. He enjoys playing the drums and writing about himself in the 3rd-person (not really :-)). Read more...
For every major event in the news, there’s someone who believes it’s a conspiracy… so why would the attack on the Death Star be any different? The guys over at Debunking911 have a great satiracal piece about this monumental Star Wars event; it was an inside job. It’s funniest if you (a) actually remember Star Wars, (b) are kind of a nerd, and (c) are familiar with “real” conspiracy theories (like the ones surrounding 9/11… video: 1, 2, 3, 4).
Yeah, 
It’s like a scene out of the movie 
