pixar

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Ray Bradbury may soon be honored online with "451" error code for Internet censorship.

- Time Warner Cable grabs patent to prevent DVRs from skipping commercials.

- Twitter to grant Web sites extra characters with "expansive tweets."

- Select audiences at Disney-Pixar's "Brave" will be treated to Dolby's new Atmos sound system.… Read more

It's time to live large, change your fate and flip out:

Nintendo just ordered up a supersized version of the 3DS. Going on sale on August 19 for $200, the 3DS XL is 90% larger than the original 3DS. Nintendo could have taken this product in a new direction for gamers by using the extra space to add a second analog stick. But no, the XL has the same design as the 3DS. It's also a bit odd that Nintendo didn't announce this two weeks ago at E3.

So who would want the 3DS XL? Larger screens … Read more

As people, we understand instinctively what flowing hair looks like. Or the way layers of clothes move on someone's body, or how water would splash when a bear runs through it. If it looks unnatural, our brains know -- and get distracted by it.

These are some of the technical challenges Pixar faced when making the studio's 13th feature, "Brave," which was directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, and which opens June 22: If the technology behind its animation doesn't ring true, the audience may lose focus on the most important thing of all: … Read more

Steve Jobs was forced to divulge several details about his life when he was seeking Top Secret security clearance in 1988.

The details were made public today in a questionnaire that Jobs had to fill out at the time for the Department of Defense, which was recently obtained by Wired through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Responding to a question on how he might be susceptible to blackmail, Jobs revealed that he had an illegitimate daughter and was concerned that he could be blackmailed if someone were to kidnap her. But a person at the DOD apparently wasn't … Read more

Two Silicon Valley executives who worked closely with Steve Jobs over the years shared some of their memories of the late Apple co-founder today, painting a picture of Jobs as a tireless perfectionist who learned from his mistakes.

"Steve would translate good ideas into a finished product unlike anyone in the industry," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said during an onstage discussion at the D10 conference in Palos Verdes, Calif. (See live blog.) Ellison likened Jobs to Henry Ford in the way he changed the industry. "That was Steve, until it was perfect. And then once it was … Read more

PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- Ed Catmull, president of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, said at the D10 conference today that technology can lead to better art.

He was quick to say, "Technology is not a goal. It really is to make a great movie."

But the point he was making is that adapting new tools forces artists to rethink everything about their work; that getting people out of their comfort zones leads to better art.

Referring to the first animated film, "Bertie the Dinosaur," he says, "Years later, we don'… Read more

Join us later this afternoon for live coverage of Pixar's Ed Catmull and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison taking the stage at the D10 conference to talk about "the lessons of Steve Jobs."

The two are being interviewed separately this afternoon, before coming back on stage to talk about the late Apple co-founder, who frequented the D conference series in years past, and had personal and business relationships with both executives.

Jobs has been the topic of much discussion at the conference, between last night's interview with current Apple CEO Tim Cook and today's talk with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, … Read more

If you've worked an office job for any length of time, you've probably found yourself envying "the creatives" -- the people in the design department, say, who always seem to be having more fun than anyone else, with their crazy cubicle setups and unusual work routines.

Matthew Panzarino over at The Next Web has posted a great little story about one of the most extreme -- and awesome -- examples of this that I can imagine.

Panzarino's piece concerns a secret room at Pixar. Judging from what the author says, I should've known about the hideaway before. But I didn't, and you may not have either, so here we go.

It seems that when Pixar moved into its then-new building in Emeryville, Calif., animator Andrew Gordon (who worked on "Monsters Inc.," "Little Nemo," "The Incredibles," and so on) felt a bit of pressure to outdo his co-workers' cubicle craziness. (You can imagine, at a place like Pixar -- which is packed with "creatives" -- just how inventive people get with their work setups.)

Luckily, he discovered a small access hatch in the wall of his office, and -- creative, curious, and mischievous person that he must be -- he wasted no time in doing what many of us probably wouldn't have. He opened it. Then he got on his hands and knees and crawled into it. Then, lo and behold, he discovered a secret "room."… Read more

Many of the details on how Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs got his start and then later turned the computer company into one of the most revered tech companies in the world are readily available. But certain segments of his life haven't been written about as extensively -- most notably his hiatus from Apple between 1985 and 1996.

Reporter Brent Schlender, a veteran tech writer for The Wall Street Journal and Fortune, published an expansive article in Fast Company magazine about this part of Jobs' life. The article is based on taped interviews that Schlender had recorded with … Read more