The Buzzwords of 2008

The Buzzwords of 2008 is a New York Times article by Mark Leibovich and Grant Barrett about the words that made it big in 2008.

According to the article, "Grant Barrett is a lexicographer specializing in slang and new words. He is a co-host of the public radio program 'A Way With Words' and head of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society. Here are some of the words he tracked this year."

For some reason, they illustrated said words in a horrid font but with interesting patterns. The list included some compound words, and seemed skewed towards politics. My favorites:

1) FAIL: Largely used online, this is a verb turned into a mass noun, as in “A bucket of fail.” Common forms include epic fail, meaning a huge overall tendency toward failure or a great example of failure, and FAIL! as an interjection or derogation. Often an antonym of win, seen online in forms like “Full of win!” which means, 'It’s good!'

2) Terrorist Fist Jab: A knuckle-to-knuckle fist bump, or “dap,” traditionally performed between two black people as a sign of friendship, celebration or agreement. It was called the “terrorist fist jab” by the newscaster E. D. Hill, formerly of Fox News. The name was taken up by opponents of Barack Obama, who is prone to do the bump with members of his family. He and his wife, Michelle, were featured making the gesture in a cartoon on the cover of The New Yorker in July. The expression is now used ironically across the political spectrum.

3) Caribou Barbie: A nickname for the former vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Enjoy your last day of 2008!
(From The Kottke)

YouTube Videos Andy Baio Linked To

YouTube Videos Andy Baio Linked To is, not surprisingly, a page listing all of the Youtube video links posted by Andy Baio of Waxy.org. (In addition to Waxy.org, Andy Baio keeps a daily link blog containing a wealth of highly interesting links.)

The ones that have been removed by Youtube have been crossed out. Enjoy the trip back in time via the internet meme superhighway! IE: remember back when Alanis Morissette covered "My Humps"?! Lollercoaster.

(From Metafilter)

Songs To Wear Pants To

Songs To Wear Pants To is a ridiculously pretty music request website by Andrew, who grew up in Ottawa and lives in Toronto.  He honors requests making songs for pay and for free. 

From his FAQ: 

"How old are you?"
I was born in 1984.

"How long have you had this website?"
Since April 9, 2004.

What differences are there between free and paid song requests?
          I only make a song for free if I really like the idea and have a lot of spare time. Free songs are always posted on STWPT, and usually paid songs are not. 
          For the first three years of Songs To Wear Pants To, free songs never exceeded one minute and eleven seconds in length, partially to keep things short and sweet, and partially for the challenge. Now I am done being challenged, and make songs any length at all. I am also done being short and sweet. 

Do you make music that isn't from requests?
I do! You can hear most of it at my other website, ANDREW IS MUSIC.
          I also play upright bass in a country & western band, produce and sing and emcee for a few "urban music" type groups, score indie films, and do worship music for churches.
"So you'll really write any kind of song at all?"
No, I'd rather not use swear words or hateful messages or mean things in general. But other than that, yeah, pretty much. It's only a matter of time... until I've made every song ever...

According to his site, Andrew is married to a minister’s daughter, is no longer vegan, is no longer straight edge, has his left nipple pierced, likes swearing but thinks it’s bad, is partially deaf, wants to run a daycare center, and is an INFP personality type.

In his other site, Andrew attempts to write one song per day. Which I think is the key to making something good: produce large volumes of crap, so that once in a while, by accident, you'll stumble upon (or perfect something) worth sharing. It's working for the internets so far, and it's worked for this, my new favorite song: 

Never Been In Love

What would it sound like if a rapping robot was really nervous about asking a girl out?

(From GEL 2007)

Sam Brown at Gel Conference

Sam Brown at Gel Conference is a wonderful video of a talk by Sam Brown, the artist behind Exploding Dog dot com, focusing on his creative process, his failures, and his upcoming book Amazing Rain (none of which are mutually exclusive).

Sam spoke at this year's Gel conference, which stands for "Good Experience Live."

Surely you're thinking: great, that title told me nothing about this conference. And don't call me Shirley. You're right. In their own words: 

"Instead of focusing on just one thing (design, technology, user experience, business, etc.) like many conferences, Gel touches on many things. This challenges attendees to find, and learn from, the patterns that underlie good experience, even in disciplines vastly different from their own..."

So that's a roundabout way of saying it's a conference about nothing, or everything. And Sam did their logo. The point is, I really like Sam's work, and I would post the video, but it auto starts. So just go check it out already. 

Sam's process is simple: people email or post phrases, and he draws minimalist cartoons based on those phrases.  He has a delicate, naïf simplistic style that is totally hip and precious at the same time.  The unsteadiness of his lines is slightly reminiscent of old Snoopy... with a dash of Parkinson's, only totally indie. (Clearly, I've been reading too much Pitchfork. I digress.)

At the end of the video he does an impromptu drawing from an audience suggestion, making it well worth your 6 minutes.  (Well, an audience member gets in a one-liner that I thought made the video worthwhile). Enjoy!

(From Kottke)

Jizz In My Pants

Jizz In My Pants is a humorous song and music video about a minuteman. Not the colonial kind. Not the Mexican-hating kind, either. Yeah. Ugh.

"Jizz in my Pants" is The Lonely Island's first single from their debut album "INCREDIBAD". The Lonely Island is of course, a comedy group consisting of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. This music video was directed by Kiv.

(From Megan at the party)

Typealyzer

Typealyzer is a site that analyzes your blog and tells you what your blog's Myers-Briggs personality type is. Silly? Decidedly.

In the dawn of the Internets, people used to take these personality tests about themselves and their friends. In the decade of web 2.0, we take these about our blogs. I can't wait until they come out with tests about which blog has a crush on which other blog. For the record, TOTI is ESFP:

"The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves. 

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions."

Oh not! Looks like no CEO jobs for TOTI.  Sigh.  They're right about several things though: Writing something EVERY DAY is exhausting, and I never know what the internets will bring ahead of time (carpe diem!). And the header is bright red, so they're right about loving bright colors. 

Metafilter, in contrast, is ISTP.

"The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts. 

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters."

Enjoy!




(From Metafilter)

Propaganda de Natal Zaffari 2005

Propaganda de Natal Zaffari 2005 is a Christmas-themed commercial by Brazilian retailer Zaffari.  I've never been to a Zaffari store, and I'm still not really sure what they sell exactly, (so far as I can gather it's "everything") but I do remember seeing these commercials A LOT.  So they kind of remind me of Christmas at home.  It's from 2005, and its still sickly sweeet and cute as ever. 

Good thing the little girl didn't want to add elephants and zebras to her dollhouse. 

Merry Christmas!

Rap Battle Gone Bad Translated

Rap Battle Gone Bad Translated is a video on Break.com that is all kinds of wrong and sad. Basically, it's a rap battle that ends in a fist fight... but translated into a college kid's idea of jazz-age proper white-person speech. Check it out.
(From my friend Guy)

Andy Samberg's the Lonely Island Tell All!

Andy Samberg's the Lonely Island Tell All! is an article on Pitchfork about the Lonely Island Boys. Supposedly,  "'Saturday Night Live's' Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone announce their debut album, reveal their deepest secrets. "

How can it not be awesome?

Exerpt:

"In addition to INCREDIBAD and dick humor, we talked to Samberg, Schaffer, and Taccone about the music they love (including their favorite T-Pain songs), their roles on "SNL", amazing/bad/horrific album covers, and being forced by Justin Timberlake to watch 'N Sync videos on YouTube.

Pitchfork: Just for the sake of our transcriber, could you guys each take turns saying your names?

Schaffer: Yeah, hi, I'm Akiva. We've done this before, by the way, and it never works.

Pitchfork: [Laughs] Okay, cool.

Jorma Taccone: We all sound identical. Okay, so do it again.

Schaffer: I'm Akiva. This is my voice. This is the sound of me talking.

Taccone: Okay, he sounds bored.

Schaffer: Yeah, I'll try to keep this tone throughout.

Taccone: This is Jorma. I have kind of a deep, manly, sort of commanding voice.

Andy Samberg: And this is Andy. My voice is the kind of voice that somebody who is in the cast of "Saturday Night Live" would have.

Schaffer: It's a really famous-sounding voice.

Taccone: He's like a total dick.

Samberg: Like someone who's way more important than the other two.

Taccone: You'll put all of his quotes in bold. And then a parenthetical "(dick)" afterwards.

Schaffer: Yeah, write anything he says in a gold, sparkly font. Instead of quote signs put dollar signs.

Taccone: Sort of like a champion asshole.

Pitchfork: Done. So you guys are watching Kanye rehearse right now?

Schaffer: It's on the feed in the building, yeah."

(From Waxy)

Ninja Video

Ninja Video is a website that features streaming TV shows, movies, and more. It's a busy site, and one might have to download some DivX app/Ninja video helper for it to work... But after that it seems to work well.

(From my other friend Ed)

Anya Marina Video "Move You"

I don't normally do this... but I'm enjoying my first day of vacation, and it's my blog, and I can post non-internetty things if I feel like, gosh darn it.

Anya Marina is a recording artist from San Diego, and former DJ on 94.9 FM.

Back when I lived in San Diego, I was driving home from a party (late at night) and one of Anya's fellow DJs sneakily put on her song "Miss Halfway."  I literally pulled over to hear it, not really caring whether or not the neighborhood was shady.  It was that awesome. 

I got home and immediately googled it (very frustrating--I found almost nothing about the song).  Since then, the song has made it onto the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack, Anya has toured a bunch and I've ground the eponymously named album to the ground on my CD player. "Clean and Sober" is still my favorite song from that. :)

Anya is (FINALLY) releasing a new album this January, "Slow and Steady Seduction, Part II".  Rolling Stone reviewed it:

"Anya Marina's childlike voice doesn't jibe with her randy album title. But that doesn't stop the San Diego singer from growling come-ons on "Afterparty at Jimmy's" ("You got soul onstage, boy/How about soul in the sack?") or purring like Jessica Rabbit on the cabaret-style "All the Same to Me." She dials it back on "Vertigo," a sweet ode to a dizzying dude. With blippy drum loops, it sounds like a play date with a Casio — proof that Marina still has G-rated fun."

So yeah. New album + new Video "Move You" = I couldn't be more stoked.

I found it today on the Interwebs, and it made me happy. My favorite version of that song is not the one in the video, but rather has a distorted tag at the end where she goes, "You're so loud, you're so loud to me." I can't find a link to it right now, but anyway, I think it's funny she stuffs a guy in the suitcase at the end of the video and I hope she makes it huge!

PS: (More on hype machine, last.fm, Rhapsody, and Myspace.) 

Funny Commercials II

Funny Commercials II is a Youtube compillation of funny commercials, with very poor video quality. This concludes the end of finals week for me, huzaah!

(From Youtube)

Americans are NOT Stupid, with Subtitles

Americans are NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES is a Youtube video by the Chaser Non-Stop News Network featuring lots of really stupid Americans.  AwwwwwwwwLRIGHT!

(From Youtube)

Fuck You, Penguin

Fuck You, Penguin is a belligerent site that posts pictures of animals and then tells the reader why said animals are assholes. That's it. That's the entire site. The tone is very Maddox, with a dash of child-like goofyness. 

The author explains it as "A blog where I tell cute animals what's what." Numerous commenters usually jump in in agreement.  

An entry will go something like this:

          "Apparently this photo has been floating around the internet for some time, presumably under the assumption that Fuck You, Penguin would rise to internet dominance and come looking for the anteater. Well, this douchebag's suspicions were dead on, because clearly he thinks he's making heads turn. I mean, seriously, Anteater, what's with the pose? Are you in a sports montage? Or are you mid-clap in an (undoubtedly lame) rendition of "Hey Jude"? You know what, who gives a shit? At least I pick food that doesn't involve sticking my tongue into the ground, you dirty son of a bitch.

Fuck me, anteater? No no, FUCK YOU."

Enjoy!

Non-sequitur Bonus: If you order your pizza and looks messed up, this is probably the reason:

At least he got them the pizza in time, right? Gross.

(From: my friend David)

Macy's Thanksgiving parade RickRoll

Macy's Thanksgiving parade RickRoll, in case you missed it, was a live Rick Roll during this year's Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Aw, Rick Astely looks all grown up.  But where is the bartender?  That was the best part of the music video. 

(From Everyone and their mom, it's a slow interweb news day.)

Randall Munroe of xkcd talk at Google

Randall Munroe of XKCD talk at Google is a Youtube video of web comic artist Randall Munroe of xkcd talking to Google employees in December 2007.  

Super super long (ALMOST AN HOUR!) so you won't watch the whole thing, but the intro is nice. Also, I like the part about how he explains how Google helps him pee in public.  Also, Randall is totally human and not an accomplished speaker, but I think the awkward parts make the talk better. Also that's it. Enjoy what snippets you see of it. 

(From Clusterflock)

xkcd

xkcd is a stick-figure strip featuring humor about technology, science, mathematics and relationships, by Randall Munroe. It is one of the best of the best on the web.

My favorite parts are the follow-up jokes that appear when you rest your mouse over the strip. 

(From , Guy, Everyone and their mom.)

Is This Your Paper On Single Serving Sites.com

Is This Your Paper On Single Serving Sites? is an interesting piece by  Ryan Greenberg about minimalist sites that have only one purpose.  

Most sites try to be mega portals that do everything. 

          "There is, however, a growing and unusual phenomenon where site authors pursue a different approach. Many people have created sites that span merely a single page and do one thing—or nothing. These sites, which writer Jason Kottke termed “single serving sites” in February 20081, capture visitors’ attention for a fraction of a minute, a tacit acknowledgement of the economy of attention in which they operate. In this space they express many traditional messages that have found an emerging new form of expression on the Internet. Dozens of tiny, single serving sites provide a venue for pop culture references, inside jokes, art displays, collective action, bids for peer approval, humor, and advice. Collectively they offer a perspective on the web as a platform for a unique brand of storytelling.

...

Categorizing Sites
          After looking at the general traits most SSS share, I attempted to sort them into a set of categories based on their purpose or operation. Once I had an initial set of categories, I classified all the sites in my corpus as a test of robustness and made some revisions. For example, I initially created a multimedia category since many sites simply play audio or video clips. It became apparent, however, that this characteristic was non-orthogonal to the others categories; some multimedia instances were pop culture references, others were interactive, and some were artistic expression. I abandoned multimedia as its own category. This left me with six categories: status sites, question sites, pop culture, information and instruction, advice and commentary, plus a selection of oddball sites which defied simple categorization.

...

          Question sites are closely related to status sites, and their names often take the same form. The distinguishing feature is that the answer these sites provide is not expected to change. Contrast isobamapresident.com, a status site, with isbarackobamamuslin.com, a question site. While Barack Obama’s status as president can change, he will never be muslin. Some question sites may offer judgments in their answers, like shouldiusetablesforlayout.com, which addresses whether it is acceptable to design webpages using the table feature for page layout purposes."

It's a fun read, enjoy. 

(From Kottke )

BUZZFEED Wins 2008 Urlies

BUZZFEED Wins 2008 Urlies is an article on URLesque crowning Buzzfeed the best of 2008. They state:

"While we can't get enough of every site on this list, only one can be the champion of the interweb. As Internet enthusiasts ourselves, we must rally behind fellow viral hunters, BuzzFeed. It can be difficult to be constantly tuned into the web's every whim, and that's why you need sites like BuzzFeed – who more than live up to their promise to present "the viral web in real time." We love the easy interface, cute commentary, mixed media commenting system and topics, which range from kitty vids (hooray!) to every celebrity sex tape to date (hooray!) We'll just say that they're well-rounded."

I couldn't agree more, the mixed media commenting is the best.

How Hot Dogs Are Made

How Hot Dogs Are Made is a video From the Science channel's show, "How It's Made." It shows you how hot dog are made. Totally gross, and it's true... you don't want to know.  Soooo glad I don't eat those. 

Also, that inspector job must be soooo tedious.

Also that's it. 

(From Buzzfeed)

Espresso Book Machine ("EBM")

The Expresso Book Machine is a really fast printer that makes books.  And by makes I mean prints and binds and everything. 

The video is kind of boring and commercial-ey but the idea is really cool.  I like that you can upload your own files and self-publish really quickly.

Not that I have a great American novel half-written or anything.  I just like the idea that if I did, I could print it. Also, I only talk about books that I want to publish when I'm drunk.  I wonder if I'm drunk.  I digress.

According to Justine,

"I read about this today in the "Chronicle for Higher Education"...something that gets passed around the Grad Studies Office...and it sounds so cool! I wish I had my own personal Espresso Book Machine!"

(From my friend Justine )

Slacker Radio

Slacker Radio is a very-well designed site for web radio.  It has a basic freebie version, and  then tons of commercial tie-ins: buy a song, sign up for service, etc. 

With the free part, you can choose a station, create your own, and skip a few songs. My favorite part is that you can  read about the artist under "Options >> Now Playing Views >> Artist Info." Also, I like the pretty pictures.

According to its press release, Slacker Radio launched March of 2007 at South by Southwest:

"AUSTIN, Tex. [South by Southwest/SXSW] - March 15, 2007 - Slacker, Inc. today announced the creation of 'Personal Radio,' which enables U.S. consumers to customize their own radio stations and listen to them wherever they happen to be. The Slacker Personal Radio experience is available today in beta for PC streaming at www.slacker.com and later this year on Slacker Portable Radio Players via Wi-Fi and Slacker Satellite Car Kits.

...

Slacker Basic Radio is advertising funded and will remain free to use on Slacker software and portable Slacker Personal Radio Players, while Slacker Premium Radio will launch later"

There you go. Thanks Wilmar! 

(From Wilmar)

Songza

Songza is an internet jukebox and search engine. Just type in the artist or band, and it will stream music. It's magical. And orange.

I typed in "Anya Marina" and it came up with an extensive list, so it automatically wins in my heart.  In fact, that's how I judge all music-related sites, by amount of Anya content. Anywya, you can add songs to a playlist, and it's free. Ace. The giant ads are obnoxious, but who am I to quibble with free music?

From the website:

"Do the artists get paid?

      Songza pays for licenses from all the major performing-rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC), who then pay the publishers and writers in proportion to the number of plays they get on Songza.
     The music streamed on Songza is generously made available by sites like YouTube.com and imeem.com, who in turn pay the rights owners for use of the songs."

(From Metafilter, in a post stating that Guitarist Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay over Viva La Vida (audio). Satriani's version: If I Could Fly (audio). Favorite comment from the thread: "After a series of close examinations, I can confirm that both are terrible songs. posted by stresstwig")

MILF, and Proud of It

MILF, and Proud of It is a slightly unnerving Slate video article by Slate.com's Alex Chadwick about "a fortysomething 'cougar'—a woman who happily seduced the much younger boy next door."  At first it seems like it's going to be something like The Graduate or American Pie or that song Stacy's Mom.  And then you remember that when you translate fiction to reality without the humor you're stuck with creepy. 

This is an episode from Alex's show, "Interviews 50 Cents,"where he sits in a busy pedestrian way, and offers interviews for 50 cents.  Enjoy. 

Access to Life

Access to Life is a moving photo-essay about AIDS and retroviral medication in 9 developing countries, shot by eight Magnum Photographers (Magnum is a photographic cooperative).

As the Metafilter commenters noted, the flash is super annoying and it takes a suuuuuper long time to load and watch, but the photos are top-notch and the message is worth it. 

More about the project from its website:

     "In the early 1990s, when antiretroviral drugs became available, AIDS was transformed from a certain death sentence to a manageable, chronic disease–but only for some. The expense of the drugs and their distribution prevented 95 percent of those living with HIV from getting access to them. International outrage that millions were dying because of economic disparity helped reduce drug prices, and also helped to create the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2002. Through the Global Fund and the U.S. President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, the world began to invest in a massive roll out of antiretroviral treatment in more than 100 developing countries.

Doctors and health care workers around the world have adapted complicated procedures to settings where people often could not access even the most basic care. Already, millions of lives that otherwise might have been lost are being saved. Equally important, providing treatment is becoming a central part of the efforts to prevent further spread of the disease.

(From Metafilter)

Type Racer

Type Racer is a superfun game about... typing. Basically you try to beat other people by out-typing them.

You watch your little car race at the top. The faster you type, the faster it goes. You just enter the text at the bottom, and it doesn't move on until you have 100% accuracy, which totally hurts you if you always wiat for Word to fix your msitakes. WAIT.

The texts are goofy and random, and it brings me back fond memories of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Yeah, it's super-nerdy, and super-awesome. ENJOY!!!

(From Type Racer)

Stop Carlos Mencia: A Rock Ballad

Stop Carlos Mencia: A Rock Ballad is a spoof music video on College Humor with music by The Elegant Too.  It's in the style of USA For Africa, We Are The World... but with clearly, a loftier goal: stopping Carlos Mencia. The production values are way-too-high for the joke, which makes them seem awkwardly extra committed to the cause. Worth it. 

(From Buzzfeed)

Schick Free Your Skin

Schick Free Your Skin is a commercial razor website where you get to upload a picture of yourself and see how it looks with a mustache.  

The site makes passing mention of Movember, where, in the month of November you try to grow a mustache.  (A yearly event where millions of hirsute women like your mother win without even trying.)

At first I thought this was a ploy by the razor companies to combat Noshember, or no-shave-November, by inventing a similarly-named but weaker-sauce movement, Movember. 

However, the Wikipedia article made it sound like the observance of Movember predates Noshember, or that the two are contemporary observances:

"It's quite common for some males in Australia (especially in the city of Melbourne), and New Zealand to sport a moustache during the month of November. The custom being known as Movember (Movember is a portmanteau of the words 'Moustache' and 'November'.), and being a fundraising event for men's health issues. One's fashionable appearance often comes second to the calling of Movember. A similar observance in the United States, called No Shave November, involves a full beard as opposed to a mustache."

Any Aussie readers (or Aussophiles) care to confirm if Movember exists?

Either case, the way the site works is you upload your photo, and it puts a mustache on you and animates your eyes.  It helps if, unlike the sample picture I used, you pick one where the eyes are totally open.  Also, it's probably better not to use a baby.  Also, that's it.

(From Stefanie again! And Ferguson and Flickr)

50 Strange Buildings of the World

50 Strange Buildings of the World is an article on the site Village of Joy, which features 50 oddly-shaped or interesting buildings around the world. Village of Joy features "Amazing, Interesting, Wonderful, Weird, Odd and Funny things about our World." Simply stunning.






(From Stefanie!)

Thriller (reprise a'cappella 64 pistes)

Thriller (reprise a'cappella 64 pistes) is an acapella Youtube video by frenchman François Macré.  He sings Michael Jackson's Thriller, making all the sounds himself, layered in 64 tracks. In his words:

"Here is a remake of the "Thriller" song that I've entirely recorded with my own voice, using 64 A'cappella tracks. There is therefore no instrument, synthetizer, beatbox, or even to sampler, but only the sound of my voice livened up with Reverb and slight Chorus on certain tracks. Regarding looping parts, I've simply used the "looping" technique. Moreover, in the whole piece (which contains several thousand notes), I transposed 8 notes, which were impossible for me to sing in high-pitched. Because of my tessiture, I also must have resigned myself to sing certain parts in head voice, more particularly on the track corresponding to Michael Jackson's solo vocal.

I've accomplished this non-commercial project at home, only with a mobile PC, microphone, headphones and webcam - in nearly 350 hours. It's just an artistic challenge, accomplished during my hours of free time, whose purpose is to make smile my close circle and net surfers. Nonetheless, I'll be happy to record in professional studio, original songs with this technique, if a label was interested to work with me on a SP or LP entirely based on this innovative concept of "Massively Multitracks A'cappella."

(From Kottke )

One Spring Away

One Spring Away is a music video for the eponymous song by the band "From." The video was made by patching together footage from 41 commercials in a semi-coherent way.

I debated wether or not to post something suggested by the same person who made it (this is generally a poor idea, and I almost didn't)... But I liked the images chosen by the end and the music is good, so... what the hey. 

According to reader/ music video director Roni, highlights include:
- drumming gorilla (Cadbury)
- Sony Bravia spots (balls, rabbits, dominos)
- slow mo explosions
- lots of dancing
- oh, like Gap's Khaki Swing
- James Brown (BMW)

[The video is] like a visual take on Girl Talk, and it plays on the trend of having advertising launch the prominence of indie bands. What makes it work is that it's coherent, and all the absurd fun goes by very fast -- 2 min 37 sec."

(From Roni Brunn)

Interactive Video Object Manipulation

Interactive Video Object Manipulation is a video by Dan Goldman of Adobe's creative technologies lab showing up-and-coming video manipulation tools.  Basically, it's like new features for a video-Photoshop.  He says if you like 'em, blog about them, and I am.  Features include moving speech and thought bubbles, direction arrows, and object manipulation. Check it:

In Dan's words: "This demo illustrates our research to bring interactivity to video editing: Our system analyzes videos using computer vision techniques, enabling interactive annotation, browsing, and even drag-and-drop composition of new still images using video footage.

This is a joint research project of Adobe and the University of Washington." 

(From Buzzfeed)

118.com

118.com is, "free the web-based directory search service of 118 118, the UK's most called service for finding businesses, people, train times, film & cinema details and much more besides."

Basically, you can spy on people making stupid querries.  They're really trying to rope you into the paid service, but I just like watching it tick by for free.

(From Metafilter)

Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals

Cooking Mama: Mama Kills animals is the perfect game to make you feel crappy about having eaten turkey. It's a Peta game that has you plucking a turkey and disemboweling it. It's not really a "fun" game. It's a pretty, graphic game with an overbearing point.

The worst part is at the end, when it gives you an opportunity to see a video about turkey farming and slaughtering.  If you don't have any time, skip to the end, when it actually shows a conscious turkey hanging upside-down by a meat hook, then a butcher slices its throat open.  I swear I'm not posting this to make me feel smug about being a vegetarian, and I certainly don't support attacking and defacing other people's property (like fur coats).  I just really like games and not eating meat. 

Bonus: The aforementioned Peta propaganda video. It's narrated in that condescending voice, so just skip to the end:

(From Guy)

Fifty People, One Question: New York

Fifty People, One Question: New York is a video on Vimeo by Crush & Lovely that asks 50 random people the same question: what do they wish will happen by the end of the day?

Simple, tastefully done with charming music.  And I will take this opportunity to wish YOU a happy Thanksgiving! 

(From Buzzfeed)

Take On Me: Literal Video Version

Take On Me: Literal Video Version is the famous AHA video, but instead of the orginal song, the images are set to replaced lyrics that describe what is going on in the video.

"Lyrics/singing: Dustin McLean 
Voices: Jason Nash, Josh Faure-Brac, Priscilla McLean
Thanks: Jonah Ray"

Best line: Pipe wrench fight. 
Bonus: if you click through the link, you will see Youtube has a newfangled widescreen format.
(From Justin, Wilmar)

Helicopter Game

Helicopter Game is an oldie-but-goodie simple computer game. You're a helicopter. Pressing the mouse button makes the 'copter go up, not-pressing it makes it fall down.  Time makes it go forward, and crashing into obstacles makes you lose.

According to one Cammie, "Here's one that took up a good half of my freshman year of college."

Voilá.

(From CamBo)

LIFE photo archive hosted by Google

LIFE photo archive hosted by Google

is a collection of Life magazine photos, some of which haven't ever been published.  According to google:

"Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google."

This single link improves the interweb's image search signal to noise ratio by about 1000 percent. Enjoy!

(From LizC, Digg)

Eddie Izzard on the Second World War

(NSFW with the sound on.) Eddie Izzard on the Second World War is a well-known stand-up routine that explains imperialism and World War II in 8 minutes or so. An oldie but goodie, this is a favorite of history teachers and History Channel buffs everywhere.

Wikipedia accurately describes Eddie's comedy style as "expressed in rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime." This particular bit was recorded for the Dressed to Kill video and DVD in 1998, during a performance at the Stage Door Theatre in San Francisco, California. Perhaps a fitting setting, considering next to the hilarity of his comedy, the second thing most people notice about Eddie is his appearance:

"He regularly cross-dresses both on and off stage and makes it clear that cross-dressing is, for him, neither a part of his performance, nor a sexual thing — he simply enjoys wearing make-up and clothing which is traditionally perceived in the West as female-only. He remarks in one of his shows, 'Women wear what they want and so do I.' According to Izzard, 'Most transvestites fancy women.' He dismisses claims that he is a male homosexual, saying he is either a straight transvestite or a 'male lesbian'. He has also described himself as 'a lesbian trapped in a man's body,' but this is not generally taken to mean that he actually identifies as a transgender lesbian.' "

Grade: A+.
(From Wikipedia. )

PSA on Digital Conversion

PSA on Digital Conversion is a humorous Youtube video that explains what you have to do to switch from analog to digital TV in 2009. It's so simple, this grandma can do it.

Actually, it's not simple at all. It's totally complicated. And she can't. And it makes me sad to smirk at old people. Sigh.

Best line: "How many W's?!"

NON-SEQUITUR BONUS:  Flight of the Bumblebee on the marimba! Just as random as it sounds.

(From Metafilter and Clusterflock)

Shift 3

Shift 3 is the latest iteration of the Shift game on Kongregate.  You run around a maze with the right and left arrows, jump using the space bar, and shift to turn things upside down and make spaces into surfaces and surfaces into space.

If it sounds confusing, that's because it's hard to explain but easy to play. Incredibly addictive, and the "surprises" scared the wits out of me.

(From your mom)

Zilch

Zilch is a 5-dice game of chance that imitates Yahtzee. It's awesome.

(From Buzzfeed)
_____________________

BONUS! An entry killed before it could be published due to a removed Youtube link:

Young Sarah Silverman was a Youtube video from Jimmi Kimmel's show showing a young Sarah Silverman. Sarah went on her boyfriend's show to promote her Comedy Central series. The re-united couple dance around the awkward situation of what happened in the interim of their semi-recent break-up, and use a tape from the early cenozoic era as a distractor. Youtube totally rained on my parade and took the video down. 

(From Buzzfeed)

Glennz

Glennz is an online T-shirt shop and website by Glenn Jones, a graphic designer and illustrator from Auckland, New Zealand. He's worked in the design industry for over 15 years, concentrating on packaging and corporate identity but did so well with creative shirts that he's decided to focusing on just that.

Glenn got his T-shirt start on Threadless.com. (Threadless is a perpetual T-shirt design contest website and store.) His designs sold extremely well, and he decided to branch off and create his own site. As he explains,

"Since then I've become one of the most successful designers on Threadless with 21 shirts printed for sale. So I decided it was time to focus a bit more on designing tees and I've teamed up with some friends in the US to start this range of T-Shirts. I also use my designs on greeting cards and artprints."

The site's name is taken from Glenn's Threadless username, which was conceived as a combination of his first name,'GLENN,' and where he is from, 'NZ.' I try not to post too many commercial sites, but... I just couldn't not not not post it.


(Ugh, I know. A sponsored link from Kottke)

Shiba Inu Puppy Cam

Shiba Inu Puppy Cam is a site that streams live a litter of Shiba Inu pups.  I would embed it here, but then  it would take forever and a day to load. So instead, here is a snapshot of the puppies in action. Puppies don't understand anything about framing.

The site is  perfect for people like me. I like puppies, but I can't even remember to feed myself regularly. Win-win.  

Details: 

"The six Shiba Inu pups (3 boys and 3 girls) will turn 6 weeks old on November 18th. This is the first litter from their mom, Kika.

Girls:
- Autumn (Purple collar) - 3 lbs 5.8 oz (as of Nov 11th)
- Ayumi (Yellow collar) - 3 lbs 3.4 oz (as of Nov 11th)
- Amaya (Red collar) - 3 lbs 6.6 oz (as of Nov 11th)

Boys:
- Aki (Green collar) - 4 lbs 0.4 oz (as of Nov 11th)
- Akoni (Black collar) - 3 lbs 12.6 oz (as of Nov 11th)
- Ando (Blue collar) - 4 lbs 1.2 oz (as of Nov 11th)"

(From Justine)

Malcolm Gladwell: Geek Pop Star

Geek Pop Star is an article by New York Magazine's Jason Zengerle. He discusses the phenomenal success of writer Malcolm Gladwell, and his new book, Outliers. Gladwell previously wrote The Tipping Point and Blink.

In the article, Gladwell states he does not think of himself as an outlier.  Instead, he thinks of himself as a parasite.

"No amount of self-deprecation can mask Gladwell’s phenomenal success. Since the 2000 publication of The Tipping Point, he has been less a journalist than, as Fast Company once deemed him, 'a rock star, a spiritual leader, a stud.' Business executives seek him out for his insights, adoring fans stop him on the street to shake his hand, and other writers strive to emulate the genre he essentially pioneered—the idea-driven narrative that upends the way we think about everything from cigarettes to ketchup. 'We get scores of proposals each year promising a Gladwellian take on the world,' says Shandler. 'I don’t know any other author who has spawned that kind of adjective in nonfiction.' One Condé Nast editor, struggling to come up with another writer who has occupied as singular a place on the media landscape as Gladwell currently does, finally offers, 'It’s kind of Norman Maileresque, isn’t it?' Forty years ago, all the sad young literary men were trying to find their own armies of the night to mythologize; now they search for their own hipster footwear trend to deconstruct.

     Gladwell’s modesty isn’t entirely a pose. As he’s the first to acknowledge, his writing largely consists of taking the work of academics and translating it in a way that makes it understandable—and entertaining—to a lay audience. His job, as he describes it, 'is to be this intermediary between the academic world and the public.' That has led some critics to dub him not so much a parasite as a pilferer. "

That view, although in the minority, stems from people who don't read carefully enough, and assume that, instead of a skillful editor and translator, Gladwell is some sort of super-researcher that has time to come up with disparate ideas, write books and articles full-time, and walk the talk circuit.  The ideas he presents are generally well-annotated and sourced.

I expect no less from his new book, but I must admit here I haven't read Outliers yet.  (Also, I know that in that book Malcolm tackles the steoreotype about Chinese students, which makes me wary.  I'm not sure how it was handled in the book, and I won't know until I read it.  I digress.)

Jason sums up Outliers as a book where,

"Gladwell examines all the things other than individual merit—the 'hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies'—that produce hockey stars and software billionaires and math geniuses, he builds a brief for a massive reorganization of social structures and institutions that will give people who don’t have those advantages and opportunities and legacies an equal shot at success."

The world probably needs more recognition of that. We need to chop the laces off the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps Horatio Alger myth.  

(From Metafilter)