This is a television blog, so at first glance it might not make sense to eulogize Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs. However, the mere fact that this is a blog and you’re reading this website on a computer or handheld device — possibly on one designed by Jobs — warrants mention of his passing. He was an absolute giant in making our world what it is. Over the last 30 years, he was the key force behind the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, and oh yeah he also ran Pixar, so thank him for all the Toy Story movies plus Up and Wall-E and Finding Nemo. Steve Jobs made me cry more in the last decade than all of my friends who died in Iraq.

If you’ve never seen it, watch Jobs’s 2005 commencement speech at Stanford above. The college dropout talks about his life as an adopted child, taking a calligraphy class that would shape the way every person in the first world uses a computer, being fired from the company he founded (and later saved), perseverance (“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick”), and — most poignantly — the way looming death shaped his life.

No one wants to die, even people who want to go to Heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent; it clears out the old to make way for the new … Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Jobs ran a business the way all businesses should be run: he hired the most talented people he could find, then he pushed them to their limits to create better work. That’s how innovation happens, and it’s how Steve Jobs changed the world. His death is a profound loss — an old that had no new to replace it.

[Essential reading: Wired's long but awesome obituary]

Don Lapre, the infomercial pitchman immediately recognizable by his infomercial-y voice, was found dead in prison on Sunday after killing himself — two days before he faced trial for fraud and conspiracy.

Lapre was wanted by law enforcement after he failed to appear at his U.S. District Court arraignment in June on 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, promotional money laundering and transactional money laundering. A federal grand jury indicted Lapre on fraud-related charges for promoting his vitamin-selling business, Greatest Vitamin in the World of Phoenix. The indictments alleged that the business signed up 226,794 people who were promised lucrative commission checks for selling vitamins and recruiting others to the business.

Customers and investors spent nearly $51.8 million, but only 5,000 victims were paid about $6.4 million in commission, according to a statement released in June by the U.S. Department of Justice. Lapre collected at least $2.2 million from the business from 2004 to 2007. [AZ Central]

Writing eulogies can be tough. “He made millions by defrauding over 200,000 people, then killed himself in prison. He will be missed.”

A few weeks ago, Warming Glow reader Justine sent me this email:

My boyfriend, Jason loved corgis. At first, I will admit that I was not the biggest fan of corgis. Jason was set on changing my mind. Every Friday (and a few other days in the week) he would send me Corgi Friday pictures from Warming Glow. He would comment on every picture saying “why do you hate a cute little face like this?” and “please buy me and give me to your boyfriend!” This became a little tradition between the two of us. Eventually, after countless emails & endless walks around Manhattan searching for at least one corgi (Manhattan is not big on corgis!) I caved and realized the big-bellied, tiny-legged furballs were actually pretty cute.

Jason died unexpectedly in his sleep on April 13th due to cardiac arrest. Although he has been gone since April, I have continued our tradition of “Corgi Friday” on his Facebook wall. His Mom & Dad, friends & family all comment on Corgi Friday when I post it on his wall. I think it helps a little bit with our grief because we know how much he loved loved LOVED corgis. I have not missed one Friday.

September 15th would have been his 26th birthday. I was wondering if you could please dedicate Corgi Friday on September 16th to Jason Stock.

Justine, we here at Warming Glow were saddened to hear of the tragic loss of someone so young, someone who loved corgis, and someone who was clearly cherished by you and those close to him. Below, you’ll find a special corgi video that Danger Guerrero made in remembrance of Jason. We hope it helps keep his memory alive in some small way.

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Andy Whitfield, the original star of Starz’s surprise hit “Spartacus,” died yesterday at the age of 39 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was ripped.

The Wales native was diagnosed 18 months ago while preparing for the second season of Spartacus. Though he was an relative unknown when the show started, Whitfield’s performance was so strong and iconic that production on season two was halted for about a year in an attempt to give Whitfield time to recover from the disease. During that time, producers shot a prequel series titled Gods of the Arena without the actor. Briefly it seemed Whitfield would make it — he was cleared to start work on season two and made a triumphant return appearance at Comic-Con. But Whitfield soon relapsed. Faced with the decision of either cancelling the series or recasting, Starz and producers opted to hire newcomer Liam McIntyre for the lead role, with Whitfield’s blessing. [EW]

Whitfield is survived by his wife and two children. Man, cancer’s a real assh*le. Go after old people and smokers, cancer. Leave us attractive people with great bodies alone.

As mentioned yesterday, last night Jimmy Kimmel dedicated his show to Frank Potenza, his uncle who passed away two weeks ago. Embedded below are videos of Kimmel’s monologue about Uncle Frank and the montage of some of his most memorable moments on the show. I may not be the biggest Kimmel fan, but he handles big moments really well. (I’m also not some unfeeling monster who isn’t affected by emotional speeches.)

Go ahead, give it a watch. Unless you have no respect for the deceased, you callous bastard!

[UPDATE: I removed the monologue video because it auto-played. But you should watch it here.]

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