Why? BECAUSE HE CAN.

Oh, and with a neural interface too…

Be sure to visit the videos’ homepages on YouTube to get the details on what he’s doing.

A YouTube commenter summed it up hilariously:

“stemcellfilms (9 seconds ago) 

and yeah, beyond the awfulness, something that hasnt been addressed is the indoctrination of children into making songs with seemingly benign but sinister disneyesque musical theory, that just rings babylon throughout every note the poor child sings. This is the next advancement of guitar hero mindcontrol, first they destroy music then they rebuild it in their image: the state represents our love for the music; music represents our love for the state.”

If the video didn’t leave you with post-traumatic stress disorder (or even if it did), you can find out more about the product at… Microsoft.com.

A wonderful British Pathe short film:

I just love the interplay between these guys. Eric Robinson’s feigned ignorance. And David’s flourish at the end in time to the music is sublime.

As for Jeff Unwin… well, Jeff, no-one likes a smart-arse.

Mellotron: recommended for Viennese Waltzes and music to accompany scenes from Thunderbirds.

I could watch this video all day.

Via BoingBoing

If you’d like to see a visual demo, check out MacBreak’s video interview with GroupSmarts [QuickTime movie, 93.6MB]. Warning: Merlin Mann present. I don’t mind him but I know that many do…

An especially interesting feature (new in the current version), is the ability to query a photo’s subject via email about some aspect of it. For example, by assigning your brother’s Address Book contact to a photo of your him and his dog you could query him automatically for the dog’s name, or some other forgotten aspect of the photo (see screenshot here). This function appears to be driven via web services, but as incorporated into MemoryMiner, they’re proprietary rather than open-access.

As I mentioned, Facebook already incorporates some of this functionality. MemoryMiner has been able to take the ideas further because of its tight integration with other system services in Mac OS X, but there’s no reason why any photo-sharing/social networking site couldn’t attempt something similar.

One interesting question is how people may export this social/spatial/time-based hybrid information to other similar systems in future. Clearly the value of it is in the linkages between the different types of information on a given entity, e.g. that a certain photo was taken at a certain place at a certain time with a certain group of people. In other words, the context of the photo.

This raises a question common to all social software hybrid applications. Is innovation ahead of the curve when developing standards for these features? Certainly, RSS photostreams including geotagging information can be done at present, but how are we to incorporate people as entities into these systems in such a way as they are transferrable? Can Great Uncle Joe become a URL?

Answers on a postcard please. Or a comment.

I received my new MacBook on Friday, so I’ve been swiftly copying everything I can onto it in the hope of moving lock-stock to it from my iMac G5 in the next few days. Some initial thoughts:

It’s built like a tank.

I managed to drop it this morning but despite a nasty deflection off a wooden desk it survived unscathed (the desk came off worse somehow – a big slice taken out of it).

The AirPort connection is erratic

This could be none of the MacBook’s fault, since my AirPort Express is very flaky, but it does tend to drop connections quite a lot. I haven’t had enough time yet to evaluate it on the office or university WiFi to verify this though.

The power system is extremely well designed

The battery itself is really very capacious – and the MagSafe adaptor is a decided improvement on the old Apple adaptor. Power management is also very good – including the very cool safe sleep (watch video demo) function.

The screen is a fingerprint magnet

I should also say that it looks fantastic in all conditions despite this – but I’m definitely going to have to get a proper cleaning cloth…

The iSight is streets ahead of the FireWire version

Perhaps because it’s so small – but having it built-in is so much more natural during conference use than an external camera. The resolution also seems better, though it’s probably just the same in fact.

It gets hot

Really quite hot! Not enough to burn you, but certainly a little uncomfortable for long periods on your lap. The obvious solution is to put it on a desk, but clearly this isn’t always possible. This isn’t really a design fault – I’d rather have a hot but quiet notebook than the noise of a small aircraft engine taking off every time I run something demanding. Interestingly, the battery doesn’t heat up at all, unlike our 12″ PowerBook G4.

It’s fast

Really very fast! Rosetta apps (ones written for PowerPC chips and so which run in a transparent emulation layer) aren’t noticeably slower, though I’ve been sticking to Universal Binaries wherever possible out of consistency.

The graphics chip could be better

It relies on Intel’s integrated graphics system, and so doesn’t have a dedicated graphics chip in the normal sense of the word. This is a bit of a shame, as my quick high definition video tests show. Playing 1080p24 clips from Apple’s HD movie trailers site (an activity which pushes my iMac G5 2Ghz over the edge) hardly even taxes the processor cores (about 20% CPU usage on each). But actually displaying twenty-four frames of 1920×1080 seems to cause the graphics system a bit of a problem. QuickTime Player reports that the full frame rate is being attained, but there’s a noticeable flicker. This could be a player/codec issue, so I’ll persist and see what I can find out.

However, 720p24 plays great. EyeTV footage looks fantastic in progressive scan mode too.

Overall, I’m really happy with the machine. I think it’s one of the best-value machines that Apple have ever made, and it will serve me well.

I’m not sure what to say about this clip, other than that I created a new ‘odd’ blog category especially for it.

Watch it. Please.

:S

Dramatic Scene Between Doctor And Patient (Attached To A Vending Machine):

This is how you up the tension. By focusing on life’s little dramas. Involving naked patients. Attached to vending machines. On TV. In Japan.

(Via TV in Japan).

OK, it’s not up there with Takeshi’s Castle or Pythagoras Switch, but there are several reasons why this short clip is so awesome:

• A guy puts candles out with a frickin’ Lambrini cork from fifteen feet away.
• Being Japanese TV, there are pop-up arrows, fluorescent captions and action replays galore
• Apparently Japanese women are desperately impressed by men with uncorking abilities like this guy, judging by the ‘ooohs’ on the soundtrack. Tommy – take note.
• Yes, the Freudian angle was too obvious to miss.
• There’s a polarised shot of a woman’s face just before he does his thing, just to raise the tension.
• The voice-over guy is just so darned impressed, bless him.

Guy Puts Out Candles With Campagne Cork:

This is how you impress the ladies at a party. With your cork skillz. And yes I spelled that with a ‘z’. On TV. In Japan.

(Via TV in Japan).

Make sure you scrub forward to about 27:30 in!

Stoned professor videos resurface online:

Xeni Jardin:

Earlier this week, I posted links to videos of a University of Florida professor delivering a very loopy lecture to business school students — apparently, while really really really high. We’re told he was subsequently fired. I don’t know the story behind the videos (perhaps he was using marijuana or some other medication to treat a serious illness), but they do make for very interesting viewing. UF pulled them from their webserver, but a number of BB readers who’ve become fans of the Apparently Baked Professor’s delivery style have pointed us to new locations.

Many links follow, but this first one is all you need. Trust me. GS says,

Like any good BoingBoinger, I snatched the WMVs early yesterday before UofF took them down so I could put together a little highlight reel: Link.

Tom says,

Here is a torrent of the baked professor video.

Shawn says:

I saw your call for mirrors so here’s what I could do for the effort. I don’t have tons of bandwidth but hopefully some others can grab them
and mirror from this link. These are the original WMV files in all their
640 x 320 x Baked glory. Your readers will want to do a “Save As” rather
than stream them (probably).

Enjoy!

Brendon says,

The video appears to be available at google video: Link.

And on a sad note, Joakim says:

I was checking the videos from the week before the famed lecture and, in one he’s talking about how he would be screwed if the university decided to lay him off. Around 23:44 in the video. Kinda ironic.

Many more mirrors for video files after the jump.
kate raynes-goldie says,

the girlfriend of a guy i know is a student at the university of florida, and she had the high professor for her class. thankfully, he blogged the video link on his blog (http://gtmcknight.com/). so here it is! Link, and another link.

Andrew Laing says,

Google video has the full video clip up: Link.

mistersquid says,

Link to Howard J. Hall, first hour. This “server” is actually a 1 GHz G4 (MDD). I’m sending this to you in the hope that someone with more bandwidth and server power than me can d/l and mirror it. In other words, grab the file and find someone willing to host. Please. Also note, there is a video “artifact” (a zooming window) at some point in this video. I didn’t grab hour 2.

WackyFLProf Video Guy says,

I have the WMV files of the Wacky Professor. I downloaded the WMV files off the Univ. of FL media server early yesterday morning.

I have both hours of Prof John Hall’s class, however each WMV is 127MB and 164MB respectively. I have ZERO desire to host them on my end, as I’m confident my bandwidth allotment will be destroyed so if someone wants to contact me at thewackyFLprof@gmail.com and knows how to set up a Bit.Torrent for the files (probably the best option) — let me know.

kurtz says,

Here is a Youtube link for the baked professor video.

Previously:
- Baked biz professor: the psychedelic remixes begin
- Video: apparently-baked biz school prof who was soon fired

(Via BoingBoing).

Skeletor Loves Predator:
The Skeletor Show
(Via [...] (…)

These are actors. In body paint. Engaging in a slap fight. To the death. On TV. In Japan.

Thanks to Pacific Dreams for pointing me in the right direction. I’ll have a more detailed post on this soon.
(Via TV in [...] (…)

Where the Hell is Matt?: “Man dances his way around the world [wmv - 36MB] getting jiggy on a mountaintop, busting moves in an impenetrable forest, dodging Hanoi motorcyclists with his finely tuned moves, and, well, I wouldn’t want to give anymore away. It’s the feel good movie of the season.”

(Via MetaFilter.)