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US Patent 5255452 (or: Why Michael Jackson was a Hacker)
- johnnybgoode 17y agoThere was some discussion about the relevance of Michael Jackson's death to Hacker News. lyime mentioned the moonwalk as a "dance hack", and this reminded me of the patented anti-gravity lean -- a genuine hack. Look at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Smooth_criminal_video.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Smooth_crimina... and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Smooth_criminal_patent.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Smooth_cr... to quickly see why this is cool.
- Quarrelsome 17y agoThe moonwalk was at best an exploit as it was a well known move in the popping scene at that point. MJ just took it into the mainstream. The shoes though appear to be a fresh concept.
- Toxygene 17y agoThese shoes have nothing to do with the moonwalk.
- AlisdairO 17y agoForgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe he was also known for perfecting the move, wasn't he?
- Quarrelsome 17y agoI would doubt this. Popping isn't my speciality (i'm more a breaking geek). There were probably people more dedicated to specifically that dance style that would have outshone him at the time. Dance that is exposed in the mainstream is a very thin slice of what is actually out there. Nor is it usually the "best". I will confess that his moonwalk is pretty damn good though.
- copenja 17y agoI have watched a ridiculous amount of popping in my life. I've been to several of the premier popping events and I have also been to many underground jams. I also have watched a ton of video. And while I will say that there are a large number of people that dance "better" and certainly more technical than MJ... I have never seen anyone TOUCH his moonwalk. As far as I am concerned he was the greatest there ever was at that move by far.
- copenja 17y agoThe moonwalk actually existed years before MJ used it. Here is a clip of a guy doing it in 1955: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbPd2iu4bg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbPd2iu4bg Later, street dancers in California incorporated the move into their style known as "popping." It was these same street dancers that taught MJ the move. And I mean these people were literally hired as teachers, not that he just saw people doing it. But none of that takes away from what Michael accomplished as a dancer and as a singer. Clearly the man was a special talent.
- access_denied 17y agoHe used the hack, that makes him a 'dance-hacer if such concept exists. No need to be the inventor of the hack itself.
- InkweaverReview 17y agoGreat share! I didn't realize that Michael Jackson had actually patented his shoe design. I guess he really was a hacker.
- johnnybgoode 17y agoHey, thanks. Yeah, if there's a connection between artistry and hacking, I think this has to qualify as an example. The visual effect is truly impressive.
- derwiki 17y agoWoah, Northrop Grumman cited this patent: http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&adjacent=true&locale=en_V3&FT=D&date=19960312&CC=US&NR=5498161A&KC=A http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&...
- duskwuff 17y agoWeird. It's listed as a reference, but never mentioned in the text. Easter egg?
- mnemonicsloth 17y agoErm. Wow. That's really cool and all. I mean, the guy was obviously amazingly talented and everything. And this is a really cool tidbit of information that lets me look back on his career as a performer in a new light. But really, folks, is it a good idea to claim Jacko as an ideal to which people in this community might aspire? I don't want to speak ill of the dead here. The guy lived a hard life, and had been an object of scorn and derision for a long time. I hope he had found some kind of peace of mind before he died. But I gotta ask -- don't hackers already get enough grief for being thin, pale, eccentric, socially awkward, obsessed with artificiality, and bizarre in how they relate to women? Let the downmodding begin.
- johnnybgoode 17y agoWho here is asking for hackers to copy all of Jackson's traits? > Let the downmodding begin. I expect your wish will be granted...
- mnemonicsloth 17y agoOkay then. Which of Michael Jackson's traits do you think are worthy of emulation? Did he have any traits that people should be discouraged from emulating?
- johnnybgoode 17y agoI think you might have misunderstood. It was you who brought up the idea of claiming MJ as an ideal, but I don't believe anyone here has done that.
- mnemonicsloth 17y agoObviously, not an ideal like Gandhi or MLK. But if Michael Jackson was a hacker, he was a nearly ideal one. He was recognized as a musical prodigy when he was 5. After that, because of his domineering, exploitative, and probably abusive father, music was basically all he thought about [1]. These are the same childhood circumstances that produced Mozart and Beethoven. The experts all seem to agree that he was an absolute master musician and dancer. At the very least, he made some of the most popular albums of all time. It's hard to imagine anyone achieving that kind of success without a lifetime of dedicated practice. I can definitely see the shoe thing as the product of someone who spent a lot of mental energy thinking about new ways to push the envelope in a song-and-dance act. So, to sum up, if Michael Jackson was a hacker, he was a great one. And the trouble is, if Michael Jackson was a Great Hacker [3], he's the only one I know [4]. I happen to agree with Paul Graham's take on Greatness: So if you ask a great hacker how good he is, he's almost certain to reply, I don't know. He's not just being modest. He really doesn't know. And none of us know, except about people we've actually worked with. Which puts us in a weird situation: WE DON'T KNOW WHO OUR HEROES SHOULD BE. (emphasis is mine) I'm really not comfortable with this conclusion, because I'd like to be a Great Hacker myself someday, and it's pretty obvious that Michael Jackson's troubles were partly caused by his success. Of course, I'd love to find a way to escape this line of reasoning... [1] Obviously, this isn't something anyone would want to live through, but it did have the effect of making Jackson focus on music the way a great hacker would. If music was the only way for him to earn his father's love when he was five years old, then he definitely would have wound up loving music [2]. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105932403 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1059324... [2] Yes, this is pretty twisted. Hard to believe. Most of the reporting I've read about the Jacksons says something to similar effect, though. I'm inclined to believe it's true just because it would be such obvious libel otherwise. [3] http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html [4] Or more precisely, if we're going to call MJ a hacker, I have more evidence that he's a great hacker than I do for anyone else.
- cpr 17y ago<Old fogey alert> I'm afraid I've never seen Jackson dance--are there some videos that demonstrate these tricks? </...alert>
- johnnybgoode 17y agoPerhaps a young fogey alert would be more appropriate. ;) Here is the moonwalk, probably his most famous move (he wasn't the first to perform it, though): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnIDfDFqGWc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnIDfDFqGWc Here is the anti-gravity lean relevant to this patent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HJbGSHtFYQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HJbGSHtFYQ Here is a montage of many of his dance moves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKBLxh3u0tM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKBLxh3u0tM
- cpr 17y agoWow. So what he really was was a talented mime with some great dance moves. Requiescat in pace, whatever his personal problems.
- johnnybgoode 17y agoSince you mentioned it, here's Marcel Marceau on Michael Jackson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj8oIrdGNiw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj8oIrdGNiw
- tjogin 17y agoHis album "Thriller" is the most sold album in the world, to this day. I don't think "mime" is a an apt description.
- joebasirico 17y agowow, even now that I know it was the shoes that's still incredibly impressive. That would take a lot of strength to get down that low.
- tetha 17y ago
- rglovejoy 17y agoNot sure why the OP linked to the European Patent Office. Here is the link to the USPTO's site: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5255452.PN.&OS=PN/5255452&RS=PN/5255452 http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sec...
- johnnybgoode 17y agoIt's part of my secret plan to drain Europe's resources and maintain US dominance. Seriously, I thought of changing it to the US link, but apparently HN doesn't let you edit the URL in your submission. Fortunately, it's the same information anyway.
- madh 17y agoBesides the USPTO link isn't any better. Here is the patent on Google Patents: http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=MAUgAAAAEBAJ&dq=US+5255452 http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=MAUgAAAAEBAJ&dq=U...
- jsz0 17y agoI heard some celebrity couple got a divorce today. Can someone maybe link one of them to having used a computer at some point in their life? I'd love to see a story on it.
- johnnybgoode 17y agoI saw your comment in the other MJ thread, so I get it -- you're pissed off about him being discussed here. But do you really not see why this is more impressive than simply using a computer?
- Mintz 17y agoThe wording in the patent is somewhat stiff and ambiguous. Could someone explain in a different way exactly how these shoes work?
- roc 17y agoBasic principle: imagine a screw and a T-square. The inner-elbow of the T-square represents a receptacle on the modified shoe. The screw represents the retractable post that protrudes from the stage. Slide the screw into the very corner of the T-square's elbow, so that the head is above the square. viola! The square (and thereby the shoe and thereby the performer) are now fastened to the stage. As an added bonus, in the linked anti-gravity lean video above, you can actually see MJ slide his feet backward at the end of the stunt to disengage his shoe from the stage.
- jemmons 17y agoI had always wondered how MJ'd done "The Lean". I can't believe I never thought to look it up after the advent of the the internet.
- icey 17y agoHere's another relevant "MJ was a geek" link: http://gizmodo.com/5303026/michael-jackson-gets-his-geek-on http://gizmodo.com/5303026/michael-jackson-gets-his-geek-on
- drawkbox 17y agoMJ was also a very crafty viral marketer. He could hack the media easily. He invented most of the stories or did them for shock (Bubbles, Oxygen tube bed, Elephant man bones), after a while the media started making up their own.