David Friedman posted a video portrait of Stephen Sasson, inventor of the digital camera. I mentioned the camera last year, it might be worth revisiting his discussion of its development and the patent file (via df).
Unicode video
If you ever wondered what it would be like to sit through a video of 49571 unicode characters, now’s your chance.
Ikea’s cheap American labour
Ikea workers in the United States get paid less and have fewer vacation days than their Swedish counterparts.
Laborers in Swedwood plants in Sweden produce bookcases and tables similar to those manufactured in Danville. The big difference is that the Europeans enjoy a minimum wage of about $19 an hour and a government-mandated five weeks of paid vacation. Full-time employees in Danville start at $8 an hour with 12 vacation days — eight of them on dates determined by the company.
Insert joke about how the tables have turned, albeit with a sprained-wrist from two hours of wrestling flatpack furniture.
Update: Joe Clark indicated to me that the company isn’t “Swedish”, so it’s not like the Swedes are getting any sort of preferential treatment — most European countries get a lot more vacation time than North Americans. Also, it’s interesting to note that Sweden doesn’t actually have a minimum wage — their salaries are set by collective bargaining (that’s where it helps to have unions).
The Sleepless Elite
Why some people can function on little sleep and still get a lot done.
“Typically, at the end of a long, structured phone interview, they will admit that they’ve been texting and surfing the Internet and doing the crossword puzzle at the same time, all on less than six hours of sleep,” says Dr. Jones. “There is some sort of psychological and physiological energy to them that we don’t understand.”
Helvetica and the New York City Subway System – WSJ.com
Helvetica and the New York City Subway System – WSJ.com
Mr. Shaw is irritated with the widespread belief that the modern New York subway system has always been associated with the Swiss typeface Helvetica. This misperception was fueled by the attention the typeface received in 2007 on the 50th anniversary of its introduction, especially in Gary Hust wit’s “Helvetica,” a documentary survey of the astonishing ubiquity of a lettering style that appears over the entrances of American Apparel and Staples, on Lufthansa airplanes and New York City garbage trucks, on Comme des Garçons bags, and, yes, on New York subway signs. But the last, as Mr. Shaw shows, was not always so.
Comic Serif
Rob Mientjes adds serifs to the typeface that everyone loves to hate, giving us Comic Serif, complete with swashy Q. Why not? This one is more in keeping with the original typeface than the version I mentioned a couple years ago.
Ninjabread Men
Ninjabread Men cookie cutters from Fred, available at Think Geek
O’Reilly on E-books
Jon Bruner interviews Tim O’Reilly for Forbes Magazine. O’Reilly Media doesn’t put DRM on any of its books, he explains why:
People who don’t pay you generally wouldn’t have paid you anyway. We’re delighted when people who can’t afford our books don’t pay us for them, if they go out and do something useful with that information.
I think having faith in that basic logic of the market is important. Besides, DRM interferes with the user experience. It makes it much harder to have people adopt your product.
The lack of DRM is one of the reasons I purchase books from O’Reilly directly. It feels like you’re actually buying something — they’ll also give it to you in whatever format you want and will email when there’s an update. If you keep an eye on their twitter feed, they offer decent discounts.
Isotype at the V&A
If you missed the Isotype exhibit (more) at the V&A, no need to worry. Jasso posted a set of photos from out visit in December. You may also be interested in The Transformer by Marie Neurath and Robin Kinross.
History of Science Fiction graphic
Ward Shelley created a beautiful History of Science Fiction graphic. It may be turned into a poster.
“History of Science Fiction” is a graphic chronology that maps the literary genre from its nascent roots in mythology and fantastic stories to the somewhat calcified post-Star Wars space opera epics of today. The movement of years is from left to right, tracing the figure of a tentacled beast, derived from H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds Martians.
Visit his site to see the image full-size (sample below).
Work by Atipo, a Spanish studio (via The Atlantic).
Work by Atipo, a Spanish studio (via The Atlantic).
Behind SMB3
Chris Covell posted images and translations of Stars of Famicom Games, a children’s book showing how Nintendo games were made, from start to finish. The book focused on the making of Super Mario Bros. 3, and includes shots of Miyamoto, developers and artists. He also posted scans from a book about Dragon Quest VI.