Huge if true. 😉
wow, found a rare interview of a DeepSeek co-founder talking about his first AI startup exit a few years ago pic.twitter.com/AWDUhbeRfh
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) January 29, 2025
Huge if true. 😉
wow, found a rare interview of a DeepSeek co-founder talking about his first AI startup exit a few years ago pic.twitter.com/AWDUhbeRfh
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) January 29, 2025
Mayhem in a minivan, LFC (Coexist)! Click or swipe through the gallery to see the video.
Amidst all his groundbreaking masterworks, this clip remains my favorite. 🙂 I’ve been referring to my “f***ing TELEPHONE” for 15 years thanks to him.
Happy Friday, y’all. 🙂
Previously: AI does the impossible: making the first actually likable Vanilla Ice song
I’m perpetually a sucker for peeks behind the curtain of movie- and TV-making magic like this:
I meant to post this incredibly weird old-ish Chemical Brothers video for Halloween. Seems somehow just as appropriate this morning, imagery+mood-wise.
Who needs AI Will gobbling spaghetti (which has somehow become the Utah Teapot of generative video!) when you’ve got this tiny, meticulous excellence?
The hilariously nerdy Elle Cordova (of “Fonts Hanging Out” fame) is back, this time as some of our favorite (and least favorite) file formats.
Oh man, what a mixture of tiny, relatable jokes (“STOP”) with absolutely incomprehensible gibberish—i.e., TikTok in a nutshell. I think you’ll dig it:
[I know this note seems supremely off topic, but bear with me.]
I’m sorry to hear of the passing of larger-than-life NBA star Dikembe Mutombo. He inspired the name of a “Project Mutombo” at Google, which was meant to block unintended sharing of content outside of one’s company. Unrelated (AFAIK he never knew of the project), back in 2015 I happened to see him biking around campus—dwarfing a hapless Google Bike & making its back tire cartoonishly flat.
RIP, big guy. Thanks for the memories, GIFs, and inspiration.
Fernando Livschitz, whose amazing work I’ve featured many times over the years, is back with some delightfully pillowy interactions in & over the Big Apple:
So is the expanded Midwest the Midwesteros? 🙂 Whatever the case, enjoy this little mashup before House Killjoy lawyers go full loot train on it.
I fondly recall Andy Samberg saying years ago that they’d sometimes cook up a sketch that would air at the absolute tail end of Saturday Night Live, be seen by almost no one, and be gotten by far fewer still—and yet for, like, 10,000 kids, it would become their favorite thing ever.
Given that it was just my birthday, I’ve dug up such an old… gem (?). This is why I’ve spent the last ~25 years hearing Jack Black belting out “Ha-ppy Birth-DAYYY!!” Enjoy (?!).
Wandering alone around the campus of my alma mater this past weekend had me in a deeply wistful, reflective mood. I reached out across time & space to some long-separated friends, and I thought you might enjoy this beautiful tune that’s been in my head the whole while.
Days of Miracles & Wonder, as always…
Infinite seamless mega meme mashup
Keyframes were used to seamlessly transition between 20 memes w/ audio @LumaLabsAI Audio on pic.twitter.com/9jzbMDUDp2
— Blaine Brown (@blizaine) June 29, 2024
Here’s a micro tutorial on how to create similar effects:
Here’s how to morph memes using Dream Machine’s new Keyframe feature. Simply upload two of your favorite memes, write a prompt that describes how you’d like to transition between them, and we’ll dream up the rest. https://t.co/G3HUEBEAcO #LumaDreamMachine pic.twitter.com/yNaRhERutn
— Luma AI (@LumaLabsAI) June 29, 2024
Hey man, it’s Monday. 🙂 Enjoy some silly but well executed VFX:
Wtf! pic.twitter.com/mdT5YgAn97
— LA CUEVA DEL CINÉFILO (@Tibu696) June 15, 2024
I really enjoyed this TED talk from Fei-Fei Li on spatial computing & the possible dawning of a Cambrian explosion on how we—and our creations—perceive the world.
In the beginning of the universe, all was darkness — until the first organisms developed sight, which ushered in an explosion of life, learning and progress. AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li says a similar moment is about to happen for computers and robots. She shows how machines are gaining “spatial intelligence” — the ability to process visual data, make predictions and act upon those predictions — and shares how this could enable AI to interact with humans in the real world.
I dig this charming little narrative from Apple. Happy Tuesday.
Hard to keep a good font down; even harder with a bad one! :-p Enjoy:
Given that my wife is the one responsible enough to chase the eclipse today & not roast her eyeballs, I’m left at home digging up a classic Dana Carvey bit about the eclipse (30 seconds, starts at 2:04). Enjoy! :-p
It’s somehow true!
I think the spirit of maximally inclusive “Irishness” has special resonance for millions of people around the world, like me, who can trace a portion (but not all) of their ancestry to the Emerald Isle. (For me it’s 75%, surname notwithstanding.) I’m reminded of Notre Dame’s “What Would You Fight For?” campaign, which features scientists, engineers, and humanitarians from around the world who conclude with “We are the Fighting Irish.” I dunno—it’s hard to explain, but it really warms my heart—as did the Irish & Chinese Railroad Workers float we saw in SF’s St. Paddy’s parade on Saturday.
Anyway, I found this bit starring & directed by Jason Momoa to be pretty charming. Enjoy:
Heh—my kind of very silly fun. Happy Wednesday.
In her 12+ years in Adobe’s video group, my wife Margot worked to bring more women into the world of editing & filmmaking, participating in efforts supporting all kinds of filmmakers across a diverse range of ages, genders, types of subject matter, experience levels, and backgrounds. I’m delighted to see such efforts continuing & growing:
Adobe and the Adobe Foundation will partner with a cohort of global organizations that are committed to empowering underrepresented communities, including Easterseals, Gold House, Latinx House, Sundance Institute and Yuvaa, funding fellowships and apprenticeships that offer direct, hands-on industry access. The grants will also enable organizations to directly support filmmakers in their communities with funding for short and feature films.
The first fellowship is a collaboration with the NAACP, designed to increase representation in post-production. The NAACP Editing Fellowship is a 14-week program focused on education and training, career growth and workplace experience and will include access to Adobe Creative Cloud to further set up emerging creators with the necessary tools. Applications open on Jan. 18, with four fellows selected to participate in the program starting in May.
“If you want to make a movie look good, make it sound good.” That’s the spirit in which Adobe is introducing a wide range of enhancements to audio handling in Premiere Pro:
According to the team, the audio workflow changes now available in the beta include:
My friend Kevin had the honor of designing the designing the art & animation for this interactive wearable demo. Stick around (or jump) to the end to see the moving images:
@el_hormiguero Marron nos trae el proyecto Primrose desarrollado por @Adobe: el vestido interactivo capaz de cambiar su apariencia #vestidointeractivo #adobe #elhormiguero #SofíaVergaraEH ♬ sonido original – El Hormiguero
We’re looking to meet great PMs, engineers, data scientists, and more; come check out open roles!
I’m really happy & proud that Firefly now enables uploading your own images & mixing them into your creations. For months & months, this has been users’ number 1 feature request.
But with power comes responsibility, of course, and we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ways to discourage misuse of the tech (i.e. how do we keep this from becoming a rip-off engine?). I’m glad to say that we’ve invested in some good guidelines & guardrails:
First, we require users to confirm they have the right to use any work that they upload to Generative Match as a reference image.
Second, if an image’s Content Credentials include tags indicating that the image shouldn’t be used as a style reference, users won’t be able to use it with Generative Match. We will be rolling out the ability to add these tags to assets as part of the Content Credentials framework within our flagship products.
Third, when a reference image is used to generate an asset, we save a thumbnail of the image to help ensure that the use of Generative Match meets our terms of service. We also note that a reference image was used in the asset’s Content Credentials. Storing the reference image provides an important dose of accountability.
To be clear, these protections are just first steps, and we plan to do more to strengthen protections. In the meantime, your feedback is most welcome!
Man, if you feel like you can’t keep up with technology while you do your day job, just please know that the same is true even at the company where one works, regarding one’s old app. At least we have smart folks like Deke McClelland to show us what’s been happening:
Beautifully put. We’ll be forever in his debt.
“Believe in creativity. Believe in imagination. Believe in innovation. Believe in the future.” As we say farewell to our co-founder Dr. John Warnock, we remember how his incredible ideas touched and transformed countless lives. Thank you for the gift of your creativity. ❤️️ pic.twitter.com/SrxOYohkqu
— Adobe (@Adobe) September 1, 2023
Like so many folks inside Adobe & far beyond, I’m saddened by the passing of our co-founder & a truly great innovator. I’m traveling this week in Ireland & thus haven’t time to compose a proper remembrance, but I’ve shared a few meaningful bits in this thread (click or tap through to see):
I am so sorry to hear of the passing of Adobe cofounder John Warnock. He changed all our lives, and those of millions more, for the better. God bless and godspeed, sir. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/ZHZDdkqcOO
— John Nack (@jnack) August 20, 2023
I’ve yet to see Wes Anderson’s latest, but I enjoyed this brief peek into how it was made:
Bonus: Bird!
This is me, giving my now-48yo brain a birthday break by skipping any attempt at meaningfulness & instead sharing just some pure exuberant mayhem. 🤘😛🤘
I know very little about this plugin—only what’s shown below—but it looks promising:
OT, but too charming not to share. 😌 It’s amazing the creative mileage one can get from just a few minutes (if that) worth of recut footage plus a relatable concept.
Yikes—my ability to post got knocked out nearly a week ago due to a WordPress update gone awry. Hopefully things are now back to normal & I can resume sharing bits of the non-stop 5-alarm torrent of rad AI-related developments that land every day. Stay tuned!
Saturday Night Live’s pre-taped segments would be impressive on any timetable—but to produce them in a matter of days (sometimes editing right up until airtime, and even beyond for digital distribution) is truly bonkers. Check out how ambitious they’ve gotten, thanks to their incredible production team & tools:
Photographer Dan Marcolina has been pushing the limits of digital creation for many years, and on Feb. 9 at 11am Eastern time, he’s scheduled to present a lecture. You can register here & check out details below:
—————————
Dan will demonstrate how to use an AI workflow to create dynamic, personalized imagery using your own photos. Additional information on Augmented Reality and thoughts from Dan’s 35-year design career will also be presented.
What attendees will learn:
Anyone interested in image creation, photography, illustration, painting, storytelling, design or who is curious about AI/AR and the future of photography will gain valuable insights from the presentation.
These short re-imaginings are an absolute delight. Cue the John Williams…
…and Johann Strauss:
Brilliant. Enjoy your next three minutes! 🏎️🐢🐢🐢
Man, it is so weird to watch this scene with a laugh track & those whimsical mouth sounds:
Last month Paul Trillo shared some wild visualizations he made by walking around Michelangelo’s David, then synthesizing 3D NeRF data. Now he’s upped the ante with captures from the Louvre:
Over in Japan, Tommy Oshima used the tech to fly around, through, and somehow under a playground, recording footage via a DJI Osmo + iPhone:
It’s wild to look back & realize that I’ve spent roughly a third of my life at this special place, making amazing friends & even meeting my future wife (and future coworker!) on a customer visit. I feel like I should have more profundity to offer, and maybe I will soon, but at the moment I just feel grateful—including for the banger of a party the company threw last week in SF.
Here’s a fun little homage to history, made now via Photoshop 1.0. (I still kinda wish I hadn’t been talked into donating my boxed copy of 1.0 to the Smithsonian! The ‘Dobe giveth…)
Raise your hand if you’re a Day 1.0 @Photoshop fan 🙋♀️
Nostalgia brought to you by TikTok’s wes45678 to celebrate Adobe’s 40th anniversary! pic.twitter.com/Y8QEtcJawf
— Adobe (@Adobe) December 12, 2022
PDF to cloud to homegrown tech titan: Adobe celebrates 40th anniversary
I had the chance to grab breakfast with Figma founder & CEO Dylan Field a couple of weeks ago, and I found him to be incredibly modest and down to earth. He reminded me of certain fellow Brown CS majors—the brilliant & gracious founding team of Adobe After Effects. I can’t wait for them all to meet someday soon.
In any case, I really enjoyed the hour-long interview Dylan did with Nilay Patel of The Verge. Here’s hoping that the Adobe deal goes through as planned & that we get to do great things together!
Happy day to all who celebrate. 😌
The whole thread is hilarious & well worth a look:
You can take Maverick out of the Tomcat, but you can’t take the tom cat out of Maverick. 😸
[Via CAPT Chris Peppel, USN]
98% unrelated, but possibly amusing: