Thanks for Rob Carroll for putting me onto this. Here's a soap opera, shot gorilla style, at the Burbank Ikea, during store hours. I'm not sure if this idea came before (500) Days of Summer or was inspired by it but either way, it's funny to see them use the different set-ups in Ikea in their little webisodes.
IKEA Heights from DaveAOK on Vimeo.
Continue reading to check out two more episodes or check out Tilzy TV for this and other web shows.Continue reading " Ikea Heights" »
WolframAlpha is online and it's fairly interesting. It's a bit like Google meets Wikipedia but right now I'm not really sure how useful it is besides finding out random facts like that Kevin is the 39th most popular first name or that I was born under a waning crescent moon. It is still lacking some information (had no idea what to do with "Boston Celtics") so right now I'd say that it's leaning more towards time waster than revolutionary site.
The one thing it really does have over google is that it just gives information instead of links so it's easier to find basic information on things. I wonder what there goal is because it either could be the beginning of something that could put sites like IMDB in danger of becoming obsolete or it could fail to ever gain the level of specific information that those specific sites are able to deliver.
The Daily Beast has an interesting story about a new web browser that could become the standard, making google a thing of the past (or, at least, their web search engine). It's called WolframAlpha and while it's definitely not going to win points for a catchy title, it's supposedly a more highly tuned version of google. The Daily Beast story explains:
I'm very interested in seeing how this site works when it finally launches some time this month.In essence, Wolfram Alpha is a frighteningly powerful calculator that is chock full of facts about the world. Type in a question in plain English: "What was the weather in Rancho Mirage when Gerald Ford died?" Wolfram Alpha instantly spits back the temperature, weather conditions, relative humidity, and wind speed, followed by a set of neatly formatted tables and charts.
In testing by The Daily Beast, Wolfram Alpha easily computed a variety of facts: Which European country has the most Internet users? How many people are alive today with the name "Nicholas"? What is the height of the Empire State Building divided by the length of the Triborough Bridge? How do oil exports in Iraq compare to those of Kuwait? What are the monthly payments on a 20-year, 5% fixed-rate mortgage with a loan of $200,000? What is the body mass index of a person who is six feet tall and weighs 200 pounds? What nutrients are in two Snickers bars?
Many of these questions can be answered using Google, but only by visiting several different Web sites, assessing the validity of sources, and making your own calculations. Wolfram Alpha simply gives you the answer.
Thanks to Todd for sending me this link which is sure to be used when killing time at work some time soon. The site is called Texts from Last Night and it features drunken or unfortunate texts from all over. Part of me thinks a lot of these may be fake but it's still a fun read. Some examples are: "My room smells like vodka and shame", "Well i threw up in my mouth a few times. But i successfully swallowed it. Still going strong.", "Text. Mid BJ. 8 points.", and "I just pynch a tree in the face".
Good times.
Just stumbled upon a website called COWRITE which is a screenplay contest by production/management company Benderspink. The gist of the contest is that they are going to build a screenplay by committee. The first round is the first ten pages of a script based on the given premise. Every other week, contestants will write the next ten pages based on the previous winner's 10 pages.
The premise of the script is: Determined to be a high-level Jason Bourne type operative, an awkward teenager enlists the help of a mysterious, supposed ex-CIA agent in his hometown and finds himself entangled in a dangerous plot that is way over his head.
The producers have also said that they are looking for a Pineapple Express meets Napolean Dynamite feel to the film so also have to work within those parameters and can't make a Bourne spoof movie.
The contest appeals to me for three reasons: it's only ten pages so shouldn't take THAT long, the winners are announced every week so it's instant gratification as opposed to most contests which take months to announce even the quarter-finalists, and I'm unemployed so $3000 bucks would be a nice boost to the ol' savings balance. (Also, entries only cost 10 bucks so it's pretty cheap). Also, the winner gets a meeting with Benderspink so it's a shot at getting my foot in the door.
And did I mention it only costs 10 bucks (14 if I'm so lazy that I can't get the 10 pages done until the late deadline of the 21st).
Should be interesting.
"The United States of Tara" is now airing on Showtime's website. When you get to the site, just type in TARA as the password. The show is an idea from Steven Spielberg, a housewife had multiple personality disorder, and her family has to live with her ailment. The show was written by Diablo Cody of "Juno" fame. So what did Soulhonky.com think?
Continue reading " LINK: Spielberg meets Diablo" »
With Christmas readily approaching, an interesting alternative gift option is ThinkGeek. The site bills itself as "Stuff for Smart Masses" and while it does have some nerdy gifts (like a Princess Leia poster), it also has some cool gag stuff like the personal soundtrack t-shirt.
This amazing new wearable audio solution features a working speaker embedded into the front of the shirt and can play music or sound effects appropriate for any situation. It's just like starring in your own movie.
So basically, now when someone says something stupid you can hit a button and cue a record scratch. There also more reasonable gifts like military strength flash drives, a watch that also works as a flash drive, and portable cell phone chargers so you don't have to scramble for an outlet when you're on the road.
For those of you who can't get enough of The Dark Knight or simply want to find out on what page exactly the film started to fall apart*, you can download the full script here.
*OK, it didn't "fall apart" but it went from being a great movie to a very good movie that I didn't think would ever end sometime around the two hour mark.
Thanks to Val for getting me addicted to yet another web quiz. Now that scrabulous is gone (and the new Scrabble beta application is garbage), I've been wasting my time on Text Twirl and Filmwise's Invisibles quiz. Every week, the people at filmwise airbrush the actors out of scenes from films and you have to guess the film. If you want to waste away your life, click here.
The first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. Jean Claude Van Damme apparently took that to heart when choosing his next movie. in it he plays a struggling ex-action star who is running out of money. Oh, and the character is Jean Claude Van Damme and the movie is called JCVD. It looks interesting and I'm sure if it does well we won't be far from Seagal: The Movie. Although personally, I think Billy Zabka: The Movie might be more fun.
One of the cooler things I've signed up for recently is a web service called Very Short List. Every day they send you a new link to an interesting book, film, website, etc. Examples of past interesting sites are Musicovery (a very neat internet radio site), a site that shows you the front page of every newspaper in the world, and a notice reminding everyone that one of the more interesting Making Of documentaries of all time was coming out on DVD.
I highly recommend signing up for this. The newspaper site showed one of the funnier solutions to a real life whodunnit. Can you figure out how the police caught the pickpocket in the bottom story?
