2013 is a little more than halfway over, and that means that idiots have had over 6 months to fail, record themselves failing, and post their videos of themselves failing on YouTube.
There’s simply nothing like watching people bust their asses for 18 minutes. Really. It’s a beautiful thing. Almost beautiful enough to make you forget that it’s the Monday after a holiday weekend.
Schadenfreude, baby.
[via FailArmy]
Sparklers are boring. Sure, they’re fun to use to trace patterns in the night sky, and they’re a good way to preoccupy an annoying kid. But for the most part, sparklers are the light lager of the fireworks world.
Well, here’s one (and probably the only) way to make them interesting – strap 200 of ’em together and light ’em all up at the same time. Can you say blinded by the light?
Don’t try this at home, I guess.
In what amounts to a “these guys are good” ad for the age of the machines, the European Tour has really stepped up its game with this promotional video featuring Rory McIlroy and a trash-talking robot.
Well, a Golf Laboratory Computer Controlled Hitting Machine, if we’re getting technical. Considering the impressive nature of the “robot”‘s quips, we’re going to assume that it’s not really a robotic brain inside that machine. But the silky smooth swing? That’s all technology, baby.
[European Tour via Dvice]
Vedic scholar, yoga teacher and author Radhanath Swami recently gave an “At Google” talk about consciousness. The company has now made it publicly available via YouTube.
Google explains in the video description, “Despite decades of advancement in science and technology, we are somehow facing increasingly complex problems to solve — both individual and collective — even in the most affluent nations: identity issues, high divorce rates, unexpected violence, high school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, environmental crisis, energy shortage, unemployment rates, unstable economy, rising healthcare costs, etc. Why and where is the disconnect?”
“The Vedic model of consciousness that’s described in the ancient Sanskrit texts of India provides dramatically fresh insights into the root cause of these problems — and their solutions — in the most unexpected way,” the description continues. “In this talk, Radhanath Swami will explore the inner workings of consciousness based on this model and discuss its application in the modern day context.”
Artist John Paul Capronigro recently gave an “At Google” talk, which Google has now made available to the general public. In the speech, he talks about his creative process.
“He shows how each discipline and different modes of operating with them contribute to the completion of finished works of art,” Google says in the video description. “The resulting synergy is stimulating, enriching, and enlivening. While he shows you that you already know how to write, draw, and photograph, he also shows you how these seemingly separate disciplines and creations combine dynamically to form a single creative process that results in a life’s work.”
“He reveals that the creative process is a process of exploration, a journey of discovery that offers many insights along the way and never ends,” Google adds. “You’ll be inspired to try these activities yourself, practicing them in your own ways for your own purposes, as you progress on your own creative journey.”
Just give this guy some speakers, a decent light show, and a few thousand sweaty twenty-somethings and you’ve got yourself one hell of a concert.
I wish I could’ve been this good at playing my toys back in the 80s.
If the prospect of either an ape uprising or a “rise of the machines” scenario keeps you up at night, don’t watch these videos. They will only open your eyes to the very real possibility of an uprising of the ape machines.
Yes, they’re making robotic apes that can walk and balance like the real thing. And by “they,” I mean the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. Watch what this bad boy can do:
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a robot ape, but clearly advances are being made in how they move. Here’s what the robot ape scene was looking like five years ago:
Of course, five years ago, we were also seeing a monkey control a robotic arm with its brain.
If that helps you sleep any better.
[via The Verge]
Musician Bobby McFerrin performed for Googlers last month, and Google has now made the show available for all to enjoy.
“For decades Bobby McFerrin has broken all the rules. The 10-time Grammy winner has blurred the distinction between pop music and fine art, goofing around barefoot in the world’s finest concert halls, exploring uncharted vocal territory, inspiring a whole new generation of a cappella singers and the beatbox movement,’ Google says in the video description. “His new album, spirityouall re-imagines Americana with beloved spirituals and original songs, raising the roof with joyful grooves. This bluesy, feel-good recording (featuring an incredible lineup of great musicians including Larry Campbell, Charley Drayton, Gil Goldstein, Larry Grenadier, Ali Jackson, and Esperanza Spalding) is an unexpected move from the music-industry rebel who singlehandedly redefined the role of the human voice with his a cappella hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” his collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea and the Vienna Philharmonic, his improvising choir Voicestra, and his legendary solo vocal performances.”
And let’s not forget his iconic Cosby Show theme.
We know that humans (depending on many factors, of course) require somewhere between 2000 and 2700 calories per day to maintain. But sometimes it’s hard to know just how many calories you’re putting in your body. Volume simply isn’t a good measurement. That’s because some foods are more calorie dense than others.
So, what’s a good unit to know? How about 200 calories. What does that look like in different foods? For instance, did you know that you could eat and entire heaping plate of broccoli before you hit 200 calories, but just half a slice of pepperoni pizza?
Ok, let’s face it. We’re all just making bad choices. You know that sugary cereal looked good.
Today’s Webmaster Help video from Google includes something of an announcement. Matt Cutts reveals that the company is working on some upcoming changes to the Webmaster Tools API.
The video is a response to the user-submitted question:
Can you tell us if Webmaster Tools will ever have an update to its API allowing us to retrieve the “Search Queries” and “Backlinks” data?
“The answer is yes,” says Cutts. “That’s the short answer. The longer answer is, we’re working on it, and we hope to release it relatively soon. In the meantime, right now, there are PHP – there’s Python libraries that you can use to download the data, and so in the description (the meta information for this video) will include a few links where you can go and download toolkits that will allow you to get access to the data right now.”
Here’s the link the description provides for downloading Search Queries data using Python. Here’s the one for PHP (not an official Google project).
“And we’re gonna keep looking at how we can improve our API to get you more and more information over time,” Cutts says in the video’s conclusion.
No time frame is given for when we might see an update to the API, but it sounds like it’s not too far off.
R.I.P Snuffy the seal. You died a brutal, terrifying, amazing death for the sole purpose of getting all of us hyped about Shark Week.
Discovery has unveiled an incredible new advertisement for Shark Week, the channel’s week-long celebration of all things shark. First broadcast way back in 1987, Shark Week is now shown in over 72 countries. Shark Week 2013 kicks of August 4th.
Which leads me back to Snuffy the seal. Sorry, bro. That had to hurt.
Use stock images on your site? Soon, you may find that it is hurting your rankings in Google. Maybe.
Do you think rankings should suffer when content utilizes stock images? Share your thoughts.
Google’s Matt Cutts discussed stock photos as a ranking signal in a Webmaster Help video this week. Specifically, he responded to the following user-submitted question:
Does using stock photos on your pages have a negative effect on rankings? Do original photos help you in this regard?
“‘Does using stock photos on your pages have a negative effect on rankings?’ To the best of my knowledge, the answer is no,” says Cutts. “‘Do original photos help you?’ To the best of my knowledge, it doesn’t really make a difference whether it’s a stock photo versus an original photo.”
But he doesn’t leave it at that.
“But you know what?” he adds. “That’s a great suggestion for a future signal we could look at in terms of search quality. Who knows? Maybe original sites – original image sites might be higher quality, where sites that just repeat the same stock photos over and over again might not be nearly as high quality.”
Interesting.
“But to the best of my knowledge,” he reiterates, “we don’t use that directly in our algorithmic web ranking right now.”
Well, even if Google is not using this as a signal currently, it’s hard to imagine why Cutts would make comments like these if he’s not serious about this actually being something Google could add in the future. They are, as you know, making changes to the algorithm every day. Here, he’s pretty much saying that original images are a signal of quality, so that’s worth paying attention to.
Is this the case though? Should original images always be treated as a signal of quality? It raises some new questions that webmasters and SEOs haven’t necessarily needed to think about in the past.
Will original trump actual photo quality? Will an amateur photo in an amateur blog post gain get a boost over a “professional” post with a re-used image from Getty? Will stock photo providers lose business because people are afraid to use the images in their content? Surely webmasters would never overreact to a ranking change Google makes, right?
Do you think stock images hurt the quality of a piece of content? Should Google include this as a ranking signal? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Peter Knights, Executive Director and co-founder of WildAid, recently participated in an “At Google” talk to discuss efforts to save endangered wildlife.
Knights was interviewed by Diane Solinger, manager of GooglersGive, at the YouTube campus. Knight discusses how the organization turned to the advertising world to forward its initiative, and uses high quality public service announcements.
“WildAid works to end the illegal wildlife trade in our lifetimes by reducing demand for endangered wildlife products and providing comprehensive marine protection,” Google says in the video’s description. “Working closely with leading media outlets, government leaders, and on-screen celebrities around the globe, WildAid promotes its message: When the buying stops, the killing can too.”
John Goodman is a national treasure – there’s no debating that. And many of his best moments on both the big and small screens involve him, well, kind of losing it.
In the fine tradition of actors losing their sh*t compilation videos comes John Goodman Losing His Sh*t. Yes, it’s as entertaining as you’d imagine. Check it out [NSFW language]:
On Wednesday, many were shocked to find out that actor James Gandolfini has passed away at the age of 51 from a heart attack.
Throughout the evening and today, people and online publications have continued to discuss and pay tribute to Gandolfini and the mark he was able to make on the world in his short time here.
Everyone from Amazon to Sesame Street has shown appreciation for the Sopranos actor. The latter shared the following video to YouTube today in which Gandolfini talks to muppet Zoe about how to calm down when you’re feeling scared.
Facebook is hosting a press event today, and there’s a rumor that the company is about to take on Vine by unveiling video on Instagram. There’s evidence to back up an imminent Instagram video launch, and when you think about it – it does seem like a logical step for the popular photo-sharing app.
But who says you have to wait for them to create awesome videos using Instagram? Users FriendsinFaux took it upon themselves to make video from Instagram, using 1,556 photos to make one awesome stop motion video. They call it Instagramimation. Check it out:
And if you’re curious, there’s also a “making of” video:
Today’s Webmaster Help video from Google is an interesting one. It’s essentially Matt Cutts saying that Google does not hate Albania, after a user asks if this is the case.
More specifically, the question asked why Google doesn’t support Albania for some of its services, like advanced search, AdSense, Google News, etc.
The question of whether or not Google hates Albania generated a “pretty funny” discussion thread internally at Google, according to Cutts.
“I pinged a few people, and I sort of abridged the question to: ‘Does Google hate Albania?’ And so there were comments on the internal doc, like, ‘No! We don’t hate Albania, and the follow-up guy said, ‘No! We love Albania, period!’” recalls Cutts. “That said, there’s still some room for improvement. So, we did launch Google.al earlier in 2013, and in fact, I think we had a Google doodle for the 100th independence day late last year, in 2012, so we are working on it. We’re trying to get better support for Albania, but even though Google’s won a lot of prizes for having the most internationalized website in the world, there’s still a lot of work that we need to go through to be able to make sure that we provide support for language in all kinds of areas.”
“It’s not a deliberate slight. It’s not that we don’t like Albania. We like Albania a lot. It’s just, it takes time to be able to be able to support properties properly, and give those languages all the support that they deserve.”
Cutts says he’s going to use the question to push some guilt trips around Google, and push harder for Albanian support.