Peter's Path - Gems

Steve Jobs: Pixar, The Early Days

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 17:00:00 +0000

To mark Toy Story’s 30th anniversary, we’re sharing a never-before-seen interview with Steve from November 22, 1996, exactly one year after the film debuted in theaters.
In this footage, Steve reveals the long game behind Pixar’s seeming overnight success. With striking clarity, he explains how its business model gives artists and engineers a stake in their creations, and he reflects on what Disney’s hard-won wisdom taught him about focus and discipline. He also talks about the challenge of leading a team so talented that it inverts the usual hierarchy, the incentives that inspire people to stay with the company, and the deeper purpose that unites them all: to tell stories that last and put something of enduring value into the culture. </blockquote>
→ stevejobsarchive.com/stories/pixar-early-days</a>
To mark Toy Story's 30th anniversary, a previously unseen interview with Steve Jobs from 22 November 1996 is released.
Toy Story, the world's first fully computer animated feature film, was a massive hit. Pixar went public a week later with the biggest IPO of 1995, reaching a value of 1.5 billion dollars.
In the interview, Steve explains Pixar's long term plan, its artist focused business model, lessons learned from Disney, and the goal of making lasting stories. His time at Pixar shaped how he later led Apple: building on timeless ideas through technology.

Charlie Kirk VS 300 Oxford Students

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 17:00:00 +0000

The debate between Charlie Kirk and 300 Oxford students, primarily revolves around Kirk's conservative viewpoints on several contentious issues, including immigration, abortion, men's rights, and Christian values, with a significant portion addressing the situation in South Africa. The discussion is structured as a Q&A session where students challenge Kirk's positions, leading to detailed exchanges.

→ youtube.com/watch?v=mlh_GfHmwts</a>

Worth watching!

It was the damn phones

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 17:00:00 +0000

Found this poem on the internet, that I would like to share with you.

I think our parents were right. It was the damn phones. We laughed when we were children hearing it's that snap gram and instant chat and face talk. They didn't understand. They couldn't even say it right. We thought we knew better than them. They didn't know what it was like having a world at the tip of our fingertips. We scroll through the trash so much we have headlines tattooed on our skin. Wires for veins, AI for a brain. And they may not have understood, but they were right.It is the damn phones. A drug in my pocket depended on stimulation. But can we blame us? We were but children when they were given, we didn't know how to stop it. If I added up all the hours I spent on a screen existential dread and regret would creep in. So ignored this fact by typing away. And it's not like I can throw away my phone. It's how we communicate, it's how we relate. It's the medicine that is surely making our souls die. I used to say I was born in the wrong generation but I was mistaken for do I not do everything I say I hate? When I look in the mirror I see a ghost staring back. I try not to think too much about who I would be without technology. The character behind my phone scream has become self aware almost worse than being naive or I know it's poison, but I drink anyways. We used to be scared of robots gaining consciousness, a lie by the media companies to distract us as to not ourselves become conscious of the mess they created. We are the robots, we are the product. So I sit and I scroll and I rot and repeat. Sit and scroll and rot until my own thoughts are what is being fed to me on tv. Until my own feelings are wrapped up in celebrities. Until my body is a tool of my political identity. And so I sit and I scroll and I rot. And so I post on the Internet how the Internet has failed us so that I may not fail my Internet presence. I think our parents were right, it was the damn phones. </blockquote> Your browser does not support the video tag. </video>
Kori Jane</a>’s poem is a sharp, haunting take on how phones have hooked us, turning us into "wires for veins, AI for a brain." It’s raw and honest, with lines like "I know it’s poison, but I drink anyways" hitting hard. She nails the irony of our dependency and the cycle of "sit and scroll and rot," even mocking how we post about the Internet’s flaws to stay relevant online. It’s a brilliant gut punch. If you like poetry that’s real and reflective, follow her and check out her books "Books Close" or "Open Wounds" for more of her.

Steve Jobs: On the origin of make something wonderful

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 17:00:00 +0000

The mood in the small room is buoyant as Steve enters, pours himself some water, and settles onto a stool. In January, in anticipation of a broadening product line and increased focus on retail and services, the company changed its name from Apple Computer Inc to Apple Inc. In June, the iPhone debuted to rave reviews and lines around the block. Revenues are up, profits are way up, and Steve marvels at how far the company has come. “People wanted $24 billion worth of the stuff that you guys thought up out of thin air and made,” he says. “I think that’s pretty cool.” </blockquote>
→ stevejobsarchive.com/stories/on-the-origin-of-make-something-wonderful</a>
Steve is in high spirits. The iPhone has just launched, profits are soaring, and he tells the team how amazing it is that people wanted 24 billion dollars worth of products they invented and built. An employee asks how Apple will protect its culture as it grows. Steve pauses, then says the deepest way to show respect for humankind is to make something wonderful and put it out into the world with great care.
This belief guided Steve all his life. It now guides the Steve Jobs Archive and inspired the title of their first book. On what would have been Steve’s 70th birthday, they hope it inspires you too: make something wonderful and share it.

Moon

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 17:00:00 +0000

In the vastness of empty space surrounding Earth, the Moon is our closest celestial neighbor. Its face, periodically filled with light and devoured by darkness, has an ever-changing, but dependable presence in our skies.
We can simulate these travels below, where you can see the current position of the Moon in the sky. You can drag that panorama around to adjust your viewing direction – this lets you see the breadth of the sky both above and below the horizon. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/moon/</a>
Awesome explanation about Moon. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Airfoil

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 17:00:00 +0000

We’ll find out how the shape and the orientation of the airfoil helps airplanes remain airborne. We’ll also learn about the behavior and properties of air and other flowing matter.
Over the course of this blog post we’ll build some intuitions for why these different effects happen to airfoils and other objects placed in flowing air. We’ll start this journey by looking at some of the methods we can use to visualize the motion of the air. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/airfoil/</a>
Awesome explanation about Airfoil. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Steve Jobs: 40 years of the Macintosh

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 17:00:00 +0000

Steve's friend Jean Pigozzi, who calls himself a "serious amateur photographer," took the image and told me the story behind it. Although Jean did not work in tech, Steve invited him along to a software conference in New Orleans. One evening after the event, as they were walking down O'Keefe Avenue looking for dinner, Steve, a notoriously fast walker, pulled to a halt. Someone in a store window was working on a Macintosh.
He had to take a closer look. How was this person using the Mac? Steve is so curious, so lasered in on trying to understand, that he is bent nearly double. </blockquote>
→ stevejobsarchive.com/stories/40-years-of-macintosh</a>
Leslie Berlin, from the Steve Jobs Archive, shares a favourite photo from 1984. It shows Steve Jobs, aged almost 29, bent over to watch a stranger use a Macintosh through a shop window in New Orleans.
The picture captures pure curiosity and joy. Steve had no idea that soon he would be forced out of Apple, spend years building Pixar and NeXT, then return to save Apple and make it the world's most valuable company.
In that moment, all that mattered was seeing someone actually using the machine he had poured his heart into. It stopped him in his tracks.

Personal Voice

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Wed, 17 May 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Users can create a Personal Voice by reading along with a randomized set of text prompts to record 15 minutes of audio on iPhone or iPad. This speech accessibility feature uses on-device machine learning to keep users’ information private and secure, and integrates seamlessly with Live Speech so users can speak with their Personal Voice when connecting with loved ones. </blockquote>
→ apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-speech-personal-voice-and-more-new-accessibility-features/</a>
On device machine learning for an feature that will be used by people for who it really matters.

Bicycle

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 17:00:00 +0000

There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling to move forward and turning the handlebars to steer makes bike riding an effortless activity.
Compared to internal combustion engines or mechanical watches, bicycles are fairly simple machines – most of their parts operate in plain sight. What’s not directly visible are all the forces that make it possible to ride and control a bicycle without compromising the structural integrity of its components.
In this article, I’ll focus on the delicate interplay between many of the forces that act on a bicycle and its parts when riding. We’ll witness how forces applied through tires make a bicycle accelerate, brake, and turn, and we’ll also investigate how the wheels and the frame handle those different forces without breaking. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/bicycle/</a>
Awesome explanation about the bicycle. It seems simple. But there is more at play then you think. Worth the read, as always.

Steve Jobs: Take a closer look

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Steve's friend Jean Pigozzi, who calls himself a "serious amateur photographer," took the image and told me the story behind it. Although Jean did not work in tech, Steve invited him along to a software conference in New Orleans. One evening after the event, as they were walking down O'Keefe Avenue looking for dinner, Steve, a notoriously fast walker, pulled to a halt. Someone in a store window was working on a Macintosh.
He had to take a closer look. How was this person using the Mac? Steve is so curious, so lasered in on trying to understand, that he is bent nearly double. </blockquote>
→ stevejobsarchive.com/stories/take-a-closer-look</a>
Leslie Berlin, from the Steve Jobs Archive, shares a favourite photo from 1984. It shows Steve Jobs, aged almost 29, bent over to watch a stranger use a Macintosh through a shop window in New Orleans. The picture captures pure curiosity and joy. Steve had no idea that soon he would be forced out of Apple, spend years building Pixar and NeXT, then return to save Apple and make it the world's most valuable company. In that moment, all that mattered was seeing someone actually using the machine he had poured his heart into. It stopped him in his tracks.

The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 17:00:00 +0000

We were like strangers on a train, the passengers and I, hurtling through the night, revealing intimacies we would never have dreamed of sharing during the brighter light of day. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, ennobled me, made me laugh and made me weep. And none of those lives touched me more than that of a woman I picked up late on a warm August night.
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to go?” I asked. For the next two hours we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they had first been married. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she would have me slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. </blockquote>
→ kentnerburn.com/the-cab-ride-ill-never-forget/</a>
Beautiful story! Small acts of kindness can have a big impact on others’ lives, and we all have the opportunity to be kind and make a difference. Pay attention, opportunities to be kind will present themselves.

The Strangely Beautiful Experience of Google Reviews

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 17:00:00 +0000

I slept under the overpass that night, and in the morning, I wrote a review: “Reasonably good bridge. A little loud for sleeping.” I gave it four stars. After I set off on my bike, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Because of Google Reviews, because multiple people took the time to review this squat bridge in the middle of nowhere, I felt like I was part of some shared human experience, the newest member of an obscure club. Maybe the other reviewers would disagree, but this moment felt powerful, like seeing other people’s names etched into a park bench or finding yourself deeply moved by the graffiti inside a public bathroom stall. But it was also weird: This tool for consumer reviews had become a digital guestbook for anything and everything in the world.
It feels impossible to fully connect and empathize with all the people we interact with each day, to see the full existence of every person we pass on the street. It’s easier to keep your head down. But all these stories, these small nuggets of humanity buried in Google Reviews, feel like opportunities for us to practice that empathy. </blockquote>
→ longreads.com/2023/01/03/the-strangely-beautiful-experience-of-google-reviews/</a>
I think I have been a reader of longreads.com for the last 10 years. This website is a bliss for readers like me. Also this article shows that the good in people can be found unexpected places.

What is a Wildcard Person?

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 17:00:00 +0000

You know that person on your team who seems to be good at everything? I mean the literal definition of the word good. Not master. Good. When a problem comes up that nobody else has any experience with, this person volunteers to jump in head-first.
They don’t produce masterpieces, but that was never the intention. The intention was for the problem to be solved, which it now is.
They are masters of producing minimum viable solutions in a diverse array of subjects. Some of these solutions never need to be replaced. The rest are viable until a full-time dedicated specialist is required. </blockquote>
→ wildcardpeople.com/what-is-a-wildcard-person</a>
Believe I am a “wild card person”, “Swiss army knife”, “generalist”, or “jack of all trades”. The things listed under thrive, suffer, and need are exactly the points that make me thrive or suffer and what I need.

Sound

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:00:00 +0000

Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry beautiful music or annoying noises. In this article I’ll explain what sound is, how it’s created and propagated.
Throughout this presentation you will be hearing different sounds, which you will often play yourself on little keyboards like the one below. You can either click its keys with your mouse or use W E R keys on your computer keyboard, but before you do so make sure your system volume is at a reasonable level.
We’ll eventually understand how these sounds are created and how they get to your ears, but we have to start by talking about the medium that is most commonly associated with sound – air. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/sound/</a>
Awesome explanation about Sound. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Mechanical Watch

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Fri, 06 May 2022 17:00:00 +0000

In the world of modern portable devices, it may be hard to believe that merely a few decades ago the most convenient way to keep track of time was a mechanical watch. Unlike their quartz and smart siblings, mechanical watches can run without using any batteries or other electronic components.
Over the course of this article I’ll explain the workings of the mechanism seen in the demonstration below. You can drag the device around to change your viewing angle, and you can use the slider to peek at what’s going on inside. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/</a>
Awesome explanation about the Mechanical Watch. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples. Since I own a mechanical watch myself this article was extra interesting to me.

GPS

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 17:00:00 +0000

Global Positioning System is, without a doubt, one of the most useful inventions of the late 20th century. It made it significantly easier for ships, airplanes, cars, and hikers to figure out where they are with high degree of accuracy.
However, the satellites are just a part of what makes GPS possible. While I’ll discuss their motion in depth, over the course of this blog post I’ll also explain how the satellites help a GPS receiver determine where it is, and I’ll dive into the clever methods the system uses to make sure the signals sent all the way from space are reliably decoded on Earth.
We’ll start by creating a positioning system that can tell us where we are. Our initial approach will be quite simple, but we’ll step-by-step improve upon it to build an understanding of the positioning method used by GPS. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/gps/</a>
Awesome explanation about GPS. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Curves and Surfaces

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 17:00:00 +0000

From fonts to animated movies, curves and surfaces constitute fundamental building blocks of many geometrical designs. Over the course of this blog post I’ll explain how this model of a mask can be very smooth despite being described by a limited number of small points • that you can drag around to change the mask’s shape.
Throughout this article I’ll keep jumping back and forth between curves and surfaces to highlight how the ideas we develop for wiggly lines can be expanded onto three dimensional shells that we can shape. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/curves-and-surfaces/</a>
Awesome explanation about Curves and Surfaces. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Naval Architecture

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 17:00:00 +0000

When I first heard the term naval architecture I thought it was the artistic practice of designing beautiful boats. It turns out it’s a proper scientific discipline dedicated to the engineering of ships.
Over the course of this article we’ll go over different aspects of naval architecture. I’ll explain how ships are propelled, what makes them stay afloat, and how they’re carefully designed to not tip over even in dynamic conditions.
To understand why a ship rocks side-to-side in the wavy ocean waters, we first have to understand that it’s water itself that’s responsible for all of the ship’s behaviors. We’ll start with a simple device – a water-filled syringe. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/naval-architecture/</a>
Awesome explanation about Naval Architecture. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Internal Combustion Engine

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sat, 01 May 2021 17:00:00 +0000

The invention of the internal combustion engine in the 19th century has revolutionized transportation over land, water, and air. Despite their omnipresence in modern day, the operation of an engine may be cryptic. Over the course of this article I’d like to explain the functionality of all the basic engine parts shown in the demonstration below.
It’s hard to talk about a mechanical device without visualizing its motion, so many demonstrations in this blog post are animated. An engine like this may seem complicated, but we will build it up from first principles. In fact, we’ll start with a significantly simpler way of generating a rotational motion. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/internal-combustion-engine/</a>
Awesome explanation about Internal Combustion Engine. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Cameras and Lenses

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 17:00:00 +0000

Pictures have always been a meaningful part of the human experience. From the first cave drawings, to sketches and paintings, to modern photography, we’ve mastered the art of recording what we see.
Cameras and the lenses inside them may seem a little mystifying. In this blog post I’d like to explain not only how they work, but also how adjusting a few tunable parameters can produce fairly different results.
Over the course of this article we’ll build a simple camera from first principles. Our first steps will be very modest – we’ll simply try to take any picture. To do that we need to have a sensor capable of detecting and measuring light that shines onto it. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/cameras-and-lenses/</a>
Awesome explanation about Cameras and Lenses. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Lights and Shadows

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 17:00:00 +0000

It’s hard to describe how paramount light is. Ultimately, it is the only thing we see. But just as important the presence of light is, so is its absence. To talk about light we have to start in darkness so let’s jump straight into it.
Light is a visible portion of electromagnetic radiation, but in this article I’m not going to discuss any of the underlying details like wave-particle duality. Instead, I’ll try to explain how light creates so many beautiful effects seen in everyday life. In the demonstration below you can use the sliders to control the position and size of a rectangular light source. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/lights-and-shadows/</a>
Awesome explanation about Lights and Shadows. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

PlanesTrainsEverything

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 17:00:00 +0000

Planes, Trains, Everything is a YouTube channel run by Scott Manson, a Scottish travel vlogger from Paisley near Glasgow.

Scott started the channel in 2019. He shares videos about travel using planes, trains, buses, ferries, and other transport. He focuses on affordable journeys and tries to find routes or challenges that people have not done much before.

→ youtube.com/@PlanesTrainsEverything/</a>

Fun to watch Scott's adventures.

Gears

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 17:00:00 +0000

I’ve always been fascinated by mechanical gears. There is something captivating about the way their teeth come together to create a fluid, unified motion.
In this blog post I’d like to look at these simple machines up close. I’ll explain how gears affect the properties of rotational motion and how the shape of their teeth is way more sophisticated than it may initially seem. Movement is important in this article so most of the visualizations are animated – you can play and pause them by clicking on the button in their bottom left corner. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/gears/</a>
Awesome explanation about Gears. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Tesseract

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 17:00:00 +0000

A cube is one of the simplest solids one can imagine. Over the course of this article I’ll try to explain how to expand it to the next dimension to obtain a tesseract – a 4D equivalent of a cube.
The concept of a four dimensional cube may be a bit overwhelming, but by the time we’re done it should hopefully become more clear what the demonstration below is all about. You can drag the object around to view it from a different angle. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/tesseract/</a>
Awesome explanation of Tesseract. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work, his explanations are clear and have cool interactive examples.

Earth and Sun

hello@peterspath.net (Peter) — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 17:00:00 +0000

The day-night cycle and the cycle of the seasons have been an important part of human civilization for millennia. Today the discoveries from centuries ago are well known, but despite the superficial simplicity of Earth revolving around its axis and orbiting the Sun, the interaction between those two actually forms a fairly complex system.
This blog post will talk about space and how our planet moves through it, so it’s only fitting if we embed ourselves in the cosmos itself. </blockquote>
→ ciechanow.ski/earth-and-sun/</a>
Good explanation of how the Earth and Sun movements work. I am a big fan of Bartosz Ciechanowski work.