56. Steve fit a century’s worth of innovation and vision into 56 years. A compact, elegantly designed life.

It’s tempting to mythologize a person once they’ve gone and this is especially true with Steve. Tonight, Steve becomes a simple and beautifully executed idea with lasting impact, not unlike his products. He’s changed the world no fewer than three unique and lasting ways (pc/music/phone) and his closest competitors have only ever managed to copy or chase him. There’s not a sliver of hyperbole in that sentence. 

People love to say Rest In Peace, but maybe it serves us well to think different on this one: I hope Steve is restless and relentless in his next life. I hope he continues to piss excellence and inspire us to do the same.

Even in death, I’d like to think Steve has a final “one more thing” left in him; reminding us that 56 years can be transformed into eternity if we work hard enough. In 56 years anything can happen and the world can be changed, singlehandedly. 56 years is scary and unfairly short only if you let it be; so, be fearless instead. That’s the reminder I need every day, and it’s a helluva “one more thing.”

Don’t rest too long, Steve. 

“Port au Prince was falling. It was riotous, with widespread looting. A group of us had gone to the port. The thugs with guns didn’t want us there. We snapped from the waist, trying not to make it obvious. We decided to go over the wall. One thug offered me “protection”. As we jumped the wall, I saw this boy, and was like, “This is what it’s come to.” It was my first digital assignment and I was amazed to be able to look at my shots. I did for a second; when I looked up, everyone had run off. It was just me and the thug. It was like a dog that smells fear. He began pushing and threatening me. Then I was surrounded. One of them hit me. I had a few dollar bills in my trousers, and put my hand there. They began tearing at me, fighting over the bills. I waited 30 seconds, started to walk away, then ran and scaled the fence. On the other side, I tried to breathe.

I began shooting one guy a metre away. He screamed and pulled a shotgun. I saw the barrel, then he shot the man next to me – I had blood on me, brains. I was crying, shaking. I ran to the car horrified; I was a mess. I love Haiti, but every time I pass the port, I carry some of that fear.” - Saul Schwarz

Unreal read of the day. More at the Guardian. 

I never cry. It’s been nearly 5 years since the last time I shed a tear: at my grandfather’s death bed. I didn’t cry at my wedding, I don’t cry when I’m in pain and I certainly don’t cry watching movies. 

I watched Waiting for Superman and teared up like precious moments doll. Everyone knows the system is broken, but it becomes too real and infuriating when the kids are no longer data points, but actual kids. Bright kids, with great parents doing everything they can for their children. It’s unfair. Education is the most important right of every child and great teachers should be treated like royalty. 

Go watch it. It’s a well-made film with a clear voice on an important topic. Certainly more deserving of a cry than this. 

The American Society of Magazine Editors has this yearly conference where they all get together and jerk off and talk about where they are and where the culture is. So they invited me down a few years ago and asked me to talk about the Esquire covers and tell everybody to stop doing terrible covers, or something like that. I was like, “So you want me to come down and bust balls? OK.” Just about every editor and publisher in America was there, and I just ripped their eyeballs out. Every magazine except maybe Vanity Fair and the New Yorker was complicit in the Iraq war. I gave them the whole thing about weapons of mass destruction and said, “Every one of you sons of bitches is complicit in what’s going on over there.” They were all, “Oooohhhh.” Ten minutes later I did a little bit more of it [mimes clapping his hands together to demonstrate their applause], and then half an hour later I really ripped into them about the war and I got a standing ovation. 

Read the rest at Vice Magazine: GEORGE LOIS - Vice Magazine 

Today could end up being one of those pivotal moments in interwebs history with the unveiling of wordnik.com. It’s basically an online, living dictionary with little discrimination of what makes a word “real.” Wordnik pulls definitions from existing sources (o.g. dictionaries) and also scours publications for real-life examples for word usage. Not only does it show definitions and examples, but also brings up a gallery of flikr images containing the word, realtime twitter entries using the word, and statistics on word usage. The coolest function of wordnik may end up being the tags that can be associated with any given word - it might end up being the new thesaurus while changing the dictionary game forever. Some might call it a wikipedia model for dictionaries, but I think it’s deeper than that.

Wordnik is the brainchild of “lexicography genius” Erin McKean who totally had me sold on the need for a living dictionary at her TEDtalk a few months ago. As it is with most things TED, it’s pretty ace. Enjoy.

Brilliant article in the New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell on Power-Law distribution and homelessness. Thought-provoking at it’s worst, life-changing at best.  Must read: “Million-Dollar Murray”

One of my outrageous dreams in life is to be invited to TED. Don’t know why or how this will occur, but I will see to it that it does. TED.com is now at a point where the quantity of content is almost overwhelming (especially if you’re recently discovering it) and so I’ve filtered out my favsies below. I’ve watched all of these at least a dozen times and could talk about the issues/questions raised in each ad nauseam. I’ve learned more through these 18 minute talks than anything else in my life, ever (sans life itself). The residual effects of each far outweigh 18 minutes - my mind is still expanding and my eyes and ears are still opening. Special favsie spot in my heart for #1 -  I have never heard any musing on God as honest, articulate and reverently relevant as Tom Honey’s talk and it’s had a profound, once-in-a-lifetime kind of effect on my life. Enjoy.

My Top 7 Ted Talk Favsies:

1. Rev. Tom Honey - How Could God Have Allowed the Tsunami?


2. Ken Robinson - Do Schools Kill Creativity?


3. Samantha Power - Shaking Hands with the Devil


4. Phil Zimbardo - How Ordinary People Become Monsters [and Heroes]


5. Wade Davis - Cultures at the Far Edge of the World.


6. Mike Rowe - Celebrating Work


7. Vik Muniz - Art with Wire, Thread, Sugar, Chocolate

Retired Oxford Professor, Joshua Silver has created glasses that are inexpensive, sturdy, and most importantly, self-adjustable - no optician required.

Using a pair of syringes that releases or retracts water from the lens, wearers can adjust the strength of their glasses without changing lenses or frames.

Brilliant.

Read the full stories here:

The Guardian article

Washington Post article

After much internal debate and several iterations, I think I’ve come up with my top 10 living superheroes. It was actually a pretty fun exercise - thinking about the people that inspire me most, limiting the list to those that are still alive and then thinking through how to justify each. All are world changers in more ways than one. All are prime candidates for my “if I could trade brains with one person” game. All are articulate and expressive. All are passionate leaders despite criticism and cynicism. All are subjects of wiki articles. Here goes… in alphabetical order and 5 words or less as justification

My Top 10 Living Heroes:

1. Richard Branson - Risk. Virgin Group. The Elders.


2. Larry Brilliant - Epidemiology. Tech. Google Money. Philanthrocapitalism.


3. Bill Clinton - Charm. Clinton Foundation. Rhodes Scholar.


4. Steve Jobs - Stubborn. Apple. Pixar. Comeback king.


5. B.B. King - Music. Soul. Depth. Phrasing. Endurance.


6. Brian McLaren - Brave. Curious. Emerging Church movement.


7. Samantha Power - Passion. Genocide stopper. Journalistic integrity.


8. Barack Obama - Leader of the Free World


9. Ken Robinson - Contagious. Creative. Thinker. Quirky.


10. Matt Taibbi - Hilarious. Angry. Reckoner. H.S.T. reincarnate.

One Liner: Dean Kamen has invented a water-purification device that runs on low energy and can pretty much purify any kind of water, regardless of the junk in it. World Changer. Check out the video and also read the Esquire article.

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