science

Pixelon

Pixelon is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pixelon rather than just read about it. In short: Pixelon was an American dot-com company founded in 1998 that promised better distribution of high-quality video over the Internet. It was based in San Juan Capistrano, California.

Key takeaways

Pixelon belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pixelon to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pixelon from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pixelon was an American dot-com company founded in 1998 that promised better distribution of high-quality video over the Internet. It was based in San Juan Capistrano, California. It gained fame for its extravagant Las Vegas launch party, followed by its sudden and violent decline less than a year later as it became evident it was using technologies that were, in fact, fake or misrepresented. Its founder, "Michael Fenne", was actually David Kim Stanley, a convicted felon involved in stock scams who was "on the lam and living out of the back of his car" when he arrived in California two years earlier. In the year 2000, Pixelon began to fire employees and reduce its operations until its bankruptcy. Pixelon ousted their management team and filed for bankruptcy in June 2000.

iBash '99 The party event for Pixelon's product launch, called "iBASH '99", was held October 29, 1999, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, at a reported cost of US$16 million. The lineup featured performances by Chely Wright, LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, Sugar Ray, Natalie Cole, Kiss, Tony Bennett, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, and a reunion of the Who. Pixelon announced that iBash would be broadcast over the Internet as a technology demonstration. The live stream displayed error messages to thousands of people, and most of those watching the concert did so with Microsoft's streaming software instead of Pixelon's. Pixelon leased the large video screen on One Times Square in New York City to show an eight-hour-plus live feed of the event. An edited 2-hour show aired on October 30, 1999, on Pax TV (now known as Ion Television). iBash was produced by Woody Fraser Productions and was hosted live by David Spade and Cindy Margolis. The Who later released their set as a DVD titled The Vegas Job, featuring two short pre-show interviews with Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle, and a short after-crash interview with David Kim Stanley admitting to embezzlement.

Aftermath The history of the company was covered in the 2019 National Geographic's docudrama miniseries Valley of the Boom.

References

External links Official website (website archive of 2000-06-14, just before bankruptcy filing) David Kim Stanley's personal web site [archived] David Kim Stanley's YouTube channel

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pixelon

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pixelon claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pixelon before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pixelon ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pixelon

In research: Pixelon appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pixelon in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pixelon is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1998 establishments in California, 2000 disestablishments in California, Corporate scandals, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pixelon outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pixelon in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pixelon means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pixelon out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pixelon in simple terms?

Pixelon was an American dot-com company founded in 1998 that promised better distribution of high-quality video over the Internet. It was based in San Juan Capistrano, California.

Why does Pixelon matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pixelon?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pixelon.