legendary – Tech Today w/ Ken May

A lost ‘Doctor Who’ episode featuring Tom Baker is finally here

Doctor Who fans have waited nearly four decades for today. Shada — an episode that began filming in 1979 with Tom Baker as the legendary Time Lord — is finally finished and available to download (a DVD will be released in the UK on December 4th, and in the US on January 9th). An animated segment and a new scene were produced to fill in the footage gaps, both of which feature Baker reprising his role as the Doctor. To add to the prestige, the episode was also written by Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams. As you can expect, Shada was an almost mythical entry in the series for fans. But it wasn’t the only “lost” episode. Last year, the BBC also released an animated version of The Power of the Daleks using audio from the original episode, after losing the source video. That recreation was produced by Charles Norton, who also spearheaded the animated segment in “Shada.” Via: Variety Source: iTunes

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A lost ‘Doctor Who’ episode featuring Tom Baker is finally here

Ataribox retro mini-console plays current and classic games

Atari, in the hope of emulating the success of Nintendo’s Mini NES and Mini SNES , has unveiled the Ataribox—a modern console inspired by the legendary Atari 2600, which was first released in 1977. While technical details on the Ataribox are slim, Atari—or at least, the company that now goes by the Atari name after the original Atari went bankrupt in 2013—has revealed that the console will come in both red/black and wood editions, the latter paying homage to the 1977 original. Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Ataribox retro mini-console plays current and classic games

Run-DMC sues Amazon, Walmart over online counterfeits

It’s not just tech giants like Apple that are taking online stores to task for allowing counterfeit goods on their virtual shelves. Run-DMC is suing Amazon, Walmart (including Jet.com ) and partners for selling bogus shirts, hats and other goods that violate the legendary group’s trademark. The internet retailers are allegedly “trading on the goodwill” of Run-DMC by either allowing third parties to sell counterfeits or, in Amazon’s case, supposedly selling the fakes directly. We’ve asked Amazon and Walmart for comment and will let you know if they can respond. With that said, there’s no question that stores like Amazon have taken at least some steps to crack down on counterfeits . The concern isn’t really that they’re knowingly profiting from knockoffs — it’s that they might not be doing enough to prevent these frauds from slipping through the cracks. These sorts of lawsuits may become more commonplace if artists and companies feel that their brands aren’t getting adequate protection. Source: CNET

How the Tessei, Japan’s Crack Cleaning Squads, Turn Bullet Trains Around in Seven Minutes

Being a New Yorker, the year I spent living in Japan was a shock because the country is so spotlessly clean. It’s as clean as it is for three reasons, the first two being that average citizens pick up after themselves, and they also pick up after un-average citizens. You’ll probably recall that during last year’s World Cup, Tweeted photos of Japanese fans cleaning their side of the stadium in Brazil went viral. As per Japanese sporting venue tradition, they had arrived to the match armed with garbage bags. The third reason Japan is so clean is because when the first two reasons aren’t enough, they have crack cleaning squads operating with military precision. Consider the hundreds of Shinkansen (bullet trains) the country runs every day. They adhere to strict 12-minute turnaround times, with two minutes alloted for passengers to get off and another two minutes for new passengers to get on. That leaves the employees of Tessei, the company hired to clean the trains, just seven minutes to turn the trains around. Here’s how they do it: Asian news network Rocket News 24 provides a detailed breakdown of their timetable: “1.5 minutes spent picking up trash, 30 seconds rotating the seats, four minutes sweeping and cleaning, and a one-minute check.” Also interesting is that the efficacy of the Tessei cleaning crews, which are 50/50 men/women with an average age of 52, only recently attained their legendary status. TESSEI was reformed into the company it is today nine years ago. At the time the workers were treated as mere dispatch cleaners, and had low morale and dedication to their job. This led to the cleanliness of the shinkansen suffering and not living up to the expectations held by its millions of passengers. One of the main changes involved in the overhaul was redefining the work as ‘service’ rather than ‘cleaning’, and endeavoring to create a sense of pride in the job. Another major factor is the importance of teamwork, with input coming not just from the supervisors but from everyone in the team. Every day they will hold a team meeting to thoroughly discuss any issues no matter how trivial, and every member gets a say. Furthermore, the teams are not fixed, and will be shuffled around so that everyone gets a chance to work with and learn from lots of different people…. TESSEI’s incredible service has garnered admiration and praise around the world. Upon visiting TESSEI, the French national rail president commented that he wanted to import the idea to France. And last month a group of professors from Harvard University visited TESSEI and discussed including the company in teaching materials at the graduate school of business.