Poizin

Poizin, originally uploaded by wykell.

Cruel punishment for this to arrive approximately halfway through my alcohol free month.

Innovation in expanding circles

This is just spot on. Spot on.

 

 

Sent to you by Jared via Google Reader:

 

 

Innovation in expanding circles

via Wired Reread by Theis Søndergaard on 2/27/10

Scan originally appeared in Wired 03.05, May 1995



So, Unique Selling Points for the internet, 1995: Be entertained, Read, Shop, Communicate, Pay bills, Work, Search, Pay taxes, Play Poker.

What do we do today online that's not on that list? The social aspect is near-missing, I guess, but other than that it's still pretty spot on. So, we've been through 3-4 iterations of what the web is, and the only seriously new selling point we've added is Hand Over Your Privacy to Facebook - nice!

And by the way, yes, my computer is utterly boring without a net-connection!

 

 

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The Daily Show at its finest

This may be the single greatest bit I have seen the daily show ever do.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Tech-Talch - Chatroulette
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Mashup compilation

Thanks, Woot.


Now where is my wine?

 

 

Sent to you by Jared via Google Reader:

 

 

Brand New, You're Retro: The Art Of The Mashup

via Woot! - One Day, One Deal on 3/4/10

We'll leave it to the critics to argue the finer points of the mashup on Wikipedia (even though we must say that we don't always agree with that particular article right there). But even the broadest definition accepts that the mashup is just about ten years old. So what a great time to be at the head of "Mashup Retro", a label we've just created right now! Here's just a taste to start you off.

 

 

After the jump, you'll see a bunch of really cool videos that cover a bunch of really cool styles, hopefully proving to you just what it is that we love about the glorious final boss of pop... the mashup!

Radiohead vs Dave Brubeck – Five Step (mashup by Overdub)

 

 

We start here to illustrate how mashups can work best when they're crossing genres, exploding the myth that music is made from easily marketable compartments and that the genres must be kept from touching at all costs, like the peas and mashed potatoes belonging to a small, fussy child. That's right, jazz snobs. You are the small fussy child in this scenario. Now eat your peas.

Rolling Stones vs. Mogwai & Tocodisco – Gimme Shelter Freaks ( DJ Earworm Mash-Up)

 

 

A band that started with blues and nearly ended with disco, the career of the (pre-Steel Wheels) Rolling Stones was practically a mashup spread over two decades anyway. It's not too hard to imagine this song as the closer to one of their over-the-top stadium shows. And why isn't the amazing Merry Clayton in sampled more often?

The B-52's Vs. Donna Summer – I Feel Love Shack (Matt Mix)

 

 

Because dance music is the mashup's natural element, it's only fair we include at least one 100% pure party music song. We also believe that, if anyone had asked them, Donna Summer and the B-52s might have been happy to record this track themselves.

Let It Be Me – Shaggy Vs Beatles

 

 

Here we've got an example of how two pretty good pop songs can be assembled into something even better for both of them. Yes, yes, we know, many people feel the Beatles are sacred, but you'll just have to accept that if hip hop had been around in the Sixties, it would have been featured on at least one track of the White Album.

Goldigger + Beethoven's 5th Video Mashup

 

 

Of course, one of the strengths of the mashup is how it can actually bite the hand that feeds it. Something like this is almost an indictment of the original songs… and yet, it's just so catchy!

Pjanoo Dance (Bowie vs Prydz) mashup by Dunproofin/video by Instamatic

 

 

Sharp, danceable, essentially well blended, and the videos even sync up. Can we go ahead and call this one the perfect mashup? Well, we were, until we found this…

Rick Astley vs Nine Inch Nails – The Hand That Gives You Up (BRAT Mashup)

 

 

As Louie Armstrong once said, "If you have to ask, you'll never know."

In case you haven't guessed from previous posts, all of us Woot writers are music fiends, so we're always on the prowl for good mashups. Know any that we missed? Hook us up in the comments below!

 

 

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Haydn learning how to be a Simons kid from a young age

Haydn learning how to be a Simons kid from a young age, originally uploaded by wykell.

but I'm Jared Simons, and I approve this message.

What looking at random things @ amazon.com gets me

What looking at random things @ amazon.com gets me, originally uploaded by wykell.

loaded up amazon.com today, and this was staring me in the face.

Uranium Ore? really?

How I'm sure this played out

vs.

A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.
-Bertrand Russell


If you haven't read the CNN Political Ticker on a statement White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanual made earlier, by all means, clicky clicky, and check it out. Here is some of the text,

This time, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has gone too far, Sarah Palin says.

The former Alaska governor is calling on President Obama to fire his notoriously coarse top aide after a report in the Wall Street Journal last week quoted Emanuel as referring to liberal groups in August who attacked the president's health care plan as "F-ing retarded."

In a posting on Facebook, Palin says the language is not only "caustic [and] crude" but deeply offensive to those with disabilities. She also compares the choice of words to those who have used the "N-word" in reference to African-Americans.

Firstly, for those who can't read and comprehend at an 8th grade level (see what I did there? I avoided using the phrase "retarded") The FORMER Governor of Alaska (the 50th state) and FORMER Vice-Presidential nominee was getting her panties all in a bunch not because the current CoS used the word "fucking" but because he used the word "retarded" to denote a group of people that he felt were particularly slow in understanding a particular plan laid out by the President.

For those of you who are not as obsessed with Sarah Barracuda like I am <<>/sarcasm<>> - her most recent born has what the medical community calls "Down Syndrome" and what the medical community USED to call something like "retardism" or "mental retardation." What the former governor may have forgotten was that since her time studying on the five year plan for a terribly difficult degree in Communications, the medical community stopped using the term "mental retardation" in favor of "mental disability" or just simply using the medical recognized phrase of the disability. This strikes me as very similar to people who get upset when you use the word "fat" to describe someone who is obese. In other words - it's semantics debate for crazy people. Sorry, I meant mentally and/or chemically imbalanced people. Either way, This is how I just pictured the news of this breaking in the White House

CUT TO SEMI-LIT OVAL OFFICE, WHERE THE POTUS IS STANDING GRIMLY BEHIND HIS DESK

POTUS, sternly over the intercom: "Please send in Mr. Emmanuel immediately."

SECRETARY: "As soon as he gets in sir, I'll see to it he sees you."

RAHM EMMANUEL STROLLS IN TO THE ANTE-CHAMBER OF THE OVAL OFFICE, CHEERFUL AND OBLIVIOUS

SECRETARY: "Mr. Emmanuel sir, the President would like to see you right away."

EMMANUEL STROLLS IN TO OVAL OFFICE, STILL FULL OF CHEERFUL DISPOSITION, UNTIL NOTICING POTUS WITH STERN LOOK ON HIS FACE. EMMANUEL STOPS IN HIS TRACKS.

POTUS: "I'm not sure if you've read the papers this morning, but I sure have, and I see the comments you made in regards to our democratic base who may be ignorant as to how our health care reform plan is carrying out."

EMMANUEL: "Um, yes sir, I think I said something like... -"

POTUS: "You didn't say something like, you said "these people are fucking retarded" and now, of all people, I have the Sarah Palin breathing down my neck about your poor choice of words, and how it will negatively affect the status and stature of this Presidency and this great country!"

EMMANUEL: "Mr. President, you have known me for how many years? You know I speak off the cuff about things I -"

POTUS: "BOTH Palin AND the CEO of the Special Olympics are calling for your head, as your lack of sensitivity is of great concern to the world. I'm sorry Rahm, I've known you for dozens of years, and you've been a loyal public servant, but I'm afraid I'm going to need to let you go for this heinous transgression. I expect your letter of resignation on my desk by 10 AM."

EMMANUEL: "Aww, son-of-a-bitch Mr. President, can't you give me just one. more. chance?"

EMMANUEL LOOKS UP, SEES THAT POTUS IS GRINNING LIKE AN IDIOT AT HIM, AND THEY BOTH BREAK INTO UNCONTROLLABLE LAUGHTER FOR ABOUT 5 SECONDS.

POTUS FINALLY REGAINING CONTROL OF HIMSELF: "God love that Palin character - if it weren't for ignorant blowhards like her, this job would get to me more than it does sometimes. Keep giving 'em hell, Rahm."

EMMANUEL: "You betcha, boss."

END SCENE

Brilliance

For those who have seen Avatar, you will note just how awesome this is.

For those who haven't, well, I'm not normally one for avocation of super-popular things, but Avatar is worth seeing. In 3D. Go give James Cameron your money.

Shameful

This makes me a touch worried that the USA is going to have to play these thugs in just 5 months. I hope FIFA comes down hard on the Algerian FA, as this is worse than bush-league stuff:

Digital Success: Finger Length and Athletic Prowess

Digital Success: Finger Length and Athletic Prowess

My question is, what sort of correlation is there when the ratio is different on different hands? My left hand has a really low ratio (probably about .88 or so) whereas my right hand is at 1.00 or 1.01. Is just the left side of my body more athletic than average?