This is utterly fascinating. Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells are the world’s first immortal cells. I had never heard of HeLa cells before this interview with author Rebecca Skloot. Now I want to read the book.
Sun CEO’s haiku tweet resignation announcement
I love that Jonathan Schwartz tweeted the announcement that he was leaving Sun, including this haiku: “Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more”.
Two things about it:
- You’ve got to appreciate someone who can keep a sense of humor in what must be a pretty difficult time (though perhaps I detect a sigh of relief?)
- People assume that a CEO’s role is complex, but, as his succinct comment makes clear, it’s fundamentally simple. Not easy, but straightforward. Understanding what executives want is no mystery.
Information Landscapes – From where we’ve come
I’ve been following the evolution of information visualization since I first blogged in 1998. Well, even before then, Muriel Cooper was leading her students at MIT’s Media Lab to probe on new ways of interacting with textual information. You can see the work she presented at TED5 in 1994, the same year that the Web really took root, in this post from David Young’s blog. But don’t just watch the video — there’s also a link to an in-depth profile of Muriel written by my friend Janet Abrams, and a link to Lisa Strausfeld’s 1995 CHI paper on visualizing financial data. (15 years later, Lisa continues to blaze trails at Pentagram.
The Incredible San Fancisco Artists’ Soapbox Derby, 1975
24 minute film about a truly delightful community endeavor. I don’t think SF has this kind of artist mojo any longer, but I’d love to see something like this Oakland, careening down Joaquin Miller Road.
Paywalls, Blogs, Comments, Editing and Magazines: A Conversation with Paul Ford, Web Editor of Harper’s Magazine | The Awl
If you’ve followed ftrain for the past 10+ years, you already know that Paul Ford is among the smartest people on the internet. This conversation with The Awl about pay models for publishing and his experience at Harpers is a little precious at times, but worth a read.
Interview with Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed
Bloom County was among those key influences informing my sense of humor, including Monty Python, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Edward Gorey. This interview looks back to its creation.
Sorry about the rss feed problems folks.
Working out some kinks. Nothing to see here.
Axe Cop
So awesome. And funny. The best comic ever written by a 5-year-old and drawn by his 29-year-old brother. I wanna Avocado Soldier t-shirt.
Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 3 and 4
Rick Prelinger collects archival, industrial, and found footage of San Francisco, and presents them as clips in front of live audiences. Delightful look at the city’s past.
Roger Ebert’s best films of the decade
I’m a little late on linking to this. Historically, I’ve found Ebert to be far too forgiving a critic (he just loves movies too much and gives poor ones a pass), so I was surprised at how close his list is to mine (if I bothered to make one). Synecdoche, Me And You and Everyone We Know, even Juno.