Mario Kart Love Song

I wish I could write songs like this:

High School Short Film: Dumpy

My friend monitron has been busy digitizing and Youtubing various videos that were produced by my “TV Production” class in high school.  The first one was the first “digital” video that was edited on the computer, called Dumpy.  This video would have been made around 1996 or ’97, when I was a sophomore in high school at the Barrie School.

The computer we had at the time was not powerful enough to do both audio and video, so it was made in the mode of a silent film, though music and narration were added later using a normal Betacam tape editor.  The music came from an old Buster Keaton film, and matches up brilliantly with the story: there are “home sweet home” and “horror” themes that show up at exactly the right times.  We used Buster Keaton to go with the silent film theme and also because even back then we were concerned with licensing issues! (the film we borrowed from was in the public domain.)

The film stars Sebastian, and if, against my better judgment, I post more videos from these good ol’ days, you will see him grow as an actor, indeed.  Monitron directed, and I was cinematographer and narrator.  The film’s themes are really rather grim, though it is meant to be comic.

Enough talk; with special consideration to John Fuller, our teacher, I give you Dumpy:

Anthropology circa 2050

When I was visiting the monuments downtown this weekend, specifically the Lincoln Memorial, I was astounded by the sheer number of people shooting photographs. It seemed like it was at least 1 every 3 seconds, and the place wasn’t even near capacity.

I was astounded at the sheer volume of data being generated about the place, and where all that data is being stored, and how.

I was reminded of an amazing video I saw about a software product called Seadragon that can stitch together pictures like this into what is almost a 3-dimensional model of the object.

I’m thinking that by 2050 (or 3050) the standard way to study our time period will be to go back over all the photos that remain (almost all of which are timecoded now, and I assume soon will start being geo-coded as well) and construct the environment as it existed using all of this information. Essentially, if you combine this idea with my other idea about constructing artificial intelligences with the personality of a person based on their internet writings, they could come close to being able to approximately recreate our world in a simulation.

So take pictures of everything you can! Upload them to the internet and get them out there so they’ll stay around (I don’t really know the best way to guarantee this) or don’t, if you don’t want some future you-simulation walking around and talking to some anthropologists (or worse, tourists!) about what it’s like to be you.

Really, watch the video to the end. You’ll be impressed.

More snarky nerdy joke video!

A lot of you seemed to enjoy when I linked the Alt Text video about Link’s weapons from Legend of Zelda. Well then, here’s another easy post for me that you will enjoy!

Alt Text on Superheroines:

Alt Text on Level 1 D&D spells:

How I spend my precious time

I just spent nearly an hour of my life watching Street Fighter: the Later Years.

So that I don’t feel so foolish, I invite you to do the same!

Internet Video Straight 2 U

I don’t laugh out loud at very many internet videos, but I very much enjoyed this review of Link’s Weapons from the Legend of Zelda by Lore Sjoberg of Alt Text.