Scott and Scurvy, Maciej Cegłowski. (Via Waxy.)

The making of the 1980s HBO intro:

Even at the time it never occurred to me that none of these effects were "digital" in any sense. Even the colored lights that sweep around the O in "HBO" are actual colored lights that sweep around in front of a camera. Also check out the computer driving the camera.

Craig Ferguson interviews Stephen Fry, without an audience even:

Part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 (show outtro).

All hail the long form interview, and praise to Craig Ferguson who seems to be the only one doing it any more.

They Don't Make Computer Manuals Like They Used To, a lovely piece by David Friedman on the manual of the Franklin Ace 100. The Ace 100 was an Apple II clone that ended when a court ruled (rightly) that operating systems are covered by copyright law. The Ace 100 manual includes tons of humor, including long passages railing against copy protection.

David is hosting copies of PDF scans of the Ace 100, 1000 and 500 manuals (links at the bottom of his article).

OK, I'm kind of tired of that Verizon ad already. Come to think of it, I was kind of tired of those gum commercials 20 years ago, too. I think I've found a flaw in their little plan.

Jason Schell at DICE 2010:

Verizon "Big Red" TV ad:

This just seems seriously ballsy to me, and I love it for that. With permission no doubt, and no risk to either brand, but still. Moxy.

At this point in my life I have to start assuming teenagers are too far removed from things from my own childhood to even hear the echoes. A kid in college today was 2 years old when Jurassic Park was in theaters. But I assume these things are funny even if you don't get the reference. It feels like a reference even when it's not one you know. I liked song parodies as a child when I was too young to know many popular songs. Seriously, how many Facts of Life references can Family Guy make and still be credible with people even slightly younger than I am?

David Crane's 2600 Magic. I haven't seen the app yet, but it sounds like it amounts to a $2 ebook on Atari 2600 programming. Sounds awesome.

Werewolf: How a parlour game became a tech phenomenon. Read to the end.

On MicroSD Problems. The makers of Chumby investigate a manufacturing problem with Kingston microSD memory cards.