Signs is a 12 minute video about two lonely office workers who unexpectedly find signs of love. Super cheezy, super awesome.
Bacon Explosion is an article/recipe BBQAddicts.com. Basically, you wrap a sausage in a weave of bacon. This is the grossest article you can send a vegetarian.
Free MP3s at Amazon.com is a link with free songs on Amazon.com. I can't vouch for the quality of the songs, only by their free-ness.
Every Second Counts is a game by Ze Frank where you have to hold your mouse button down for a target amount of time (within an error of plus or minus 0.1 seconds). It starts with 0.2 seconds and increases by 0.2 with each level up.
It's less of a game and more of art.
According to Ze: "I use scale as a way to brainstorm ideas around a theme. I try to imagine certain elements of the theme at extreme scale to see if it generates ideas..."
"...Another less straightforward example is the absurdist game 'every second counts'. The increasing stretches of time and anticipation vs. the small gesture of the mouse button. I find this juxtaposition of scale in things that make me laugh... For example the crude and silly joke: 'I have to go poop.' stated seriously followed by an utterance of the word 'poop'. It only works for me if the sound is small. A little throw away."
Benjamin Wallace: Does happiness have a price tag? is a TED talk about the price of happiness. TED is an annual conference about ideas worth spreading, held in Monterey, California. Benjamin samples a lot of really expensive things to find the answer.
Answer: yes. Big money big money BIG MONEY!!!
(From Melissa)
Stuff Journalists Like is a self-explanatory website about the favorite things of modern muckrackers and media types, in the style of Stuff White People Like.
A couple of gems:
Touché. Others include #159 throwing shoes, #17 breaking news, and #32 press passes."#75 Low Pay.
Journalists like to think of themselves as the regular working man/woman. Journalist like to kick the same dust as regular folks. Yes there are the millionaire reporters. But those are as rare as readers who subscribe to more than one newspaper. But for the journalists who are not Brian Williams or Rick Reilly, it's the reality of living paycheck to paycheck.
When selecting a career, journalists knew they would make sacrifices: long hours, working holidays and low pay.
When young journalism students ask veteran journalists for advice, virtually all veterans reply with "go to business school."
Yes, yes, it's YET ANOTHER one of those "Stuff X People Like" sites, and the tone is photocopied, but it's well done, so A-.
(From Boing Boing)Tono tono is a video about Broca's aphasia patient. Broca's aphasia is caused by damage (like stroke or trauma) to or developmental issues in anterior regions of the brain around the third convolution of the left frontal lobe.
Broca's aphasics have good comprehension but difficulty saying what they want to say. Speech is slow, labored, and telegraphic, prepositions and conjunctions are lost, and words are slurred. Broca's aphasia is usually accompanied by agraphia (the inability to express thoughts in writing.) They are usually aware of being unable to speak. :(
Rewind We Build Your Dreams is a slow-loading and cluttered website that features covers of 80s song by (mostly) indie bands. However, the covers are really neat.
My favorite is the cover of Cindy Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Starfucker. Then again, I love covers.
The Noises Rest is a long-winded video on Vimeo by You Look Nice Today. It's about how a gaggle of geeky foley artists (sound effects people) were comissioned to re-imagine silent films by the Silent Film Institute/NY MOMA. A lot of appears to be inside jokes, but it's still cute.
In their words:
"Most people assume that silent films were silent for technological reasons—that there wasn’t a way to capture and reproduce sound along with the moving image in those classic early films.
That’s a lie: the technology was never a big deal. Directors at the time simply chose, for aesthetic reasons, to embrace the purity of silence.
When the Silent Film Institute* asked us to create something inspired by the era of silent films, we knew we had to honor the early foley artists, those brave sound effects engineers who chose silence over noise.
Three of our best pals are foley artists, and by a fantastic coincidence, they’re working right now on a project we simply had to document.We’ll let Evan, Lanolin, and Tiborg tell you the rest of the story.
_________________________________
* It was The Museum of Modern Art."
This appears to have been a legit event. Or something. The point is, I like Weekend at Bernie's, and picking up the phone at random times.
(From Clusterflock)
Whitehouse.gov got a makeover today even before Obama was sworn in. This makeover, undubitably, is the best thing on the Interwebs today.
Not only does the new site look sleek, but according to Slate.com's Farhad Manjoo, new functions were added as well:
"The Obama site is leaner—understandably, the administration being just a few hours old—but also promises more interactivity. In the first blog post, Macon Phillips, Obama's White House director of new media, reaffirms a campaign promise—that the White House will post all nonemergency legislation to the site for five days and review all the comments that come in before the president signs or vetoes the bill. Wisely, the first blog post allows no comments—if it had, we'd have seen a mob of wiseasses posting "First!!!!" At the moment, the only way to send a note to the White House is to use this contact form.Enjoy!After the election, many wondered how Obama would transform his campaign's online network into a force for pushing his policy goals. As far as I can tell, the White House Web site is not—or not yet—a social network. You can't build a profile, connect with friends, and start groups to advocate for certain positions—the functions that allowed millions of supporters to take part in his campaign. What you can do is give the site your e-mail address and ZIP code. When I did so, I got a pop-up message thanking me for my submission, and that was that. I hope they don't spam me.
The site is not without its bugs, either: A flashy slide show of past presidents fails to include anyone past Gerald Ford. In addition, the Web masters were so thorough in their attempts to erase the old site that they broke many legitimate pages. For instance, when you Google George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, or any other past president, you get now-broken links to their bios on the White House site."
Is That an Emoticon in 1862? is an article by By JENNIFER 8. LEE about what clearly is the oldest emoticon evar. Or close to it.Cute.
(From my friend Justin)
Disgusting People I Have Made Out With is a crude, new Tumblr with horridly contrasting colors and dubious stories. It's about disgusting people the contributors have made out with. Apparently anyone can write in and tell a true or made-up story. The stories are fine. But I mean really, hot pink and red? That was a no-no even back in the 80s! All the entries seem fake except the bottom-most one, which makes me think this could be a blog specifically made to embarass that guy in the first entry. 
Single Ladies Single Man Beyonce Mashup is a video of Youtube's Dancer554 doing the exact choreography from Beyoncé's Single Ladies video, played concurrently with the original Single Ladies video. This video was once up on Youtube, but has since been taken down due to a copywright claim by the Warner Music Group.
The manorexic dancer is amazingly spot on. It's crazy.
The non-mashed up video of Dancer554 doing the dance solo currently has over 1,924,841 hits, which means you were probably forwarded that version a long time ago. And when you clicked on the link you saw a Youtube notice that said, "This video or group may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community." Wtf. While I think that is some insane ribbage and insane dancing, it doesn't really merit a parental advisory.
Anyway, the dance is cooler with the synchronized video. There is also another similar but fuzzier video that shows some suspiciously simlar Bob Fosse choreography as an inset. That, or the abominable snowman, I'm not sure.
(From Thomas / Kristin's Facebook way back in November, because Stef mentioned it at the Schmitzvah.)
The United States of Tara Pilot is the first episode of a Showtime series about a, "Suburban wife and mother Tara Gregson (Toni Collette), juggles her family and career while suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder."
Tin Eye is, "a reverse image search engine. You can submit an image to TinEye to find out where it came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or to find higher resolution versions."
I like a source-search engine. Which would be cool if they did this for text... but in addition, the engine spit out the results already integrated into your term paper. With a bibliography in MLA format. Or Chicago style. I'm not picky.
I digress. TinEye (which I totally mis-read as Tiny Eye for the first 20 times) was created by Idée Inc.
When I tried it using my very un-scientific random method, Tiny Eye correctly sourced one picture to PerezHilton.com, but failed to source the Disaster Girl picture to the now-defunct JPG magazine. Instead it pointed to Ebaum's World and Zoomr."CRITERIA FOR THIS LIST:
This is not a list of 'iconic' SFX shots, such as the opening shot in Star Wars or the final shot in Back To The Future, etc. There are many fantastic SFX shots in cinema history that are artistically 'awesome' without qualifying here. For the purposes of this list, a shot has to be either a) exceptionally convincing, b) ground-breaking or c) an exemplary execution of an oft-used technique. Only one shot is allowed per film."
One of the oldest clips from the world of bitmap-textured CGI animation, and - to my mind - simply the most convincing 'impossible thing' ever committed to celluloid by Hollywood. The segue between the withdrawing of Stan Winston's animatronic head and the appearance of the CGI version is effective and seamless, playing both technologies to their strengths. The movement of the musculature in the T-Rex combines with the very prosaic illumination of the car headlights to sell the Rex, and the camera judder combines perfectly with the footfalls of the massive beast. Rain and darkness have sold many a special effect before, and they certainly do no harm here, but the result is pure movie history.
People Who Deserve It is a website devoted to documenting "socially responsible reasons to punch someone in the face." It has been up and running since Sept. 2008."We’re not mean people, honestly.
This blog is not written with malice or scorn, but with a sincere desire to witness the upward progression of the human race. And some people are ruining it for everybody.
People who wear sunglasses inside.
Savages who pee on the seat.
This kind of conduct only perpetuates the acceptance of degenerate behavior.On this space log, you will find examples of socially responsible reasons to punch someone in the face. And remember, we do it for the kids."
You can even suggest punches, just like real life.
(From The Kott)
The delivery is very deadpan, the sets are well made. I like the backgound jokes, like the sign behind the reps saying "The Wheel. Reinvented." It's been such a long time that I've read The Onion, I forgot these guys were good at comedy. And life.
In-video bonus! 1, 4 or 9 vicims, next.
(From Buzzfeed)
Brown Dyed Hotel Puzzle is an online game with no instructions. The goal is to progress through the levels without getting bored.
Just click click click until you move on to a different puzzle.
It was made by a group of nordic supernerds: "Brown Dyed Hotel is a group of students from Campus Karlshamn of Blekinge Institute of Technology. Together we have brought Ether to life in 15 weeks.Programmer: Roger Skogh
3D Artist: Peter Löfgren
3D Artist & Animator: Daniel Palm
3D Artist: Mattias Jansson
2D Artists: Filip Otto, Emil Johansson"
It was fun until I got distracted by shiny objects.
Calvin and Hobbes on the Economy is a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon that explains what is going on with a lemonade stand as an analogy. My friend Jenk forwarded it to me, and she would also like to remind you that The Financial Crisis, as Explained to My Fourteen-Year-Old Sister was an excellent post. In case you missed it.
Waxy.org: Links is an ugly but interesting site by Andy Baio of Waxy.org fame. It's a mostly daily link blog.
His links cover anything from rumors of MTV greenlighting a College Humor show to a super nerdy laundry list of overlooked indie video games of 2008.
The links can be seen in a more aesthetically pleasing way on the right column of Andy's main site, Waxy.org.
Andy is an independent journalist and programmer living in Portland, Oregon. Clearly, my work here is done. Just playing!
"The following image is of the apparatus that I am using to create a stop-motion animation of myself getting older. Every day I position myself in the center of this ring and take two simultaneous photos (180 degrees apart). The ring is marked off for the 365 days of the year and a pair of crosshairs (mounted on a sliding wooden fixture) are incremented along the circumference of the ring to line up with these markings. I use the crosshairs to position my head as nearly as possible in the center of the ring. So far, I've accumulated approximately 17 years worth of photos (the project was started in '91).
FAQ:
There's a section of the video where half of each photo is black - what's going on?
This was the result of switching from 100ASA to 200ASA film. When I halved the shutter speed to compensate the flash was unable to sync up. ND filters were the answer. The next version of the video will use this to my advantage.
How did you find the time?
I found the time by making the daily snapshots no more time consuming than brushing my teeth. It's become such a habit now that I hardly realize I'm doing it. It only takes about a minute each day.
What gave you the idea?
I remember seeing old time-lapse films of skyscrapers being constructed and of whole cities quickly evolving over a period of years. Also I saw my share of old films where a vampire ages rapidly and turns to dust. I'm not sure but I think the idea sprang from seeing those types of images.
Where did the music come from?
The music was purchased from a royalty free buyout music company called Fresh Music. The track is called "Hiroshima" and is from their "Swing" CD. The next version will have a completely different soundtrack.
Sometimes your shoulders look contorted - what's going on?
I use crosshairs and a string to position my head in the center of the ring. Unfortunately, this does nothing to make sure that the orientation of my head is correct. This can result in my head tilting forward and back relative to my neck and shoulders. This is particulary the case when I'm traveling and I'm not able to hang the ring from the ceiling. That is, in the struggle to support the ring and position my head correctly, I would often find myself contorting my neck and shoulders.
There was also a period of a couple years where the cable release mechanism was broken and I would trigger the two cameras by hand. This meant that my head would turn to look at the crosshairs but my shoulders and arms needed to point towards the two camera.
These types of projects are narcissistic.
You're crazy. But enough about you, let's talk about me.
He must have stayed in the same room for 17 years.
Well yes, if by "room" you mean "planet".
He will grow old and shriveled and nobody will want to have sex with him.
Unfortunately, my girlfriend sort of agrees with this one."
Lyrics and some chords:
F
working out, losing weight
Bb
maybe using tanning spray
F Bb
becoming more attractive in general
reading more, watching less
learning all the rules for chess
becoming somewhat smarter in general
eating fish, not fingernails
volunteer to save the whales
becoming a better guy in general
saving more, spending less
yes I will wax my chest
dating more girls in general
Bridge C Bb F
But not this year. No this year is different!
As different as a gazelle. Yes, a gazelle from a deer. (They're actually not that different.)
After all these failed resolutions. Bb C Bb C
My future is clear, the future is near!
Chorus: F A Bb C
Just forget those resolutions you
know that you are never gonna do
and adopt a more realistical view
by committing to things that come easily to you
like eat at least one value meal a week
or put the correct shoes on the correct feet
Bb C F
just "Raise the bar to walk effortlessly underneath!"
Chorus 2:
Just face the fact you've always thought
those resolutions don't mean squat
Settle in to a comfortable spot
embrace all the things you know you are not.
Hit the snooze, roll over, then repeat
Make large purchases, then lose the receipts
just "Raise the bar to walk effortlessly underneath!"
