If you are even vaguely familar with the Mega Man series of video games, you’ll love this clip. Make sure you stick around for the screenshots at the very end.
Parade of Awesomeness
Jul 04
Jul 03
Digital Blasphemy is a collection of excellent computer-generated images created by Ryan Bliss that you can use as the background for your computer or phone.
While you have to pay for the majority of these amazing images, there is a free gallery that showcases some of the artist’s best work.
At first, Digital Blasphemy was a hobby for Bliss, but later on the site became popular enough for him to support both himself and his family. This means that producing this amazing artwork is his day job, so subscribers get new backgrounds just about every other week.
The images are beautiful, and there’s enough variety to keep me busy changing my background all the time. I love it.
Jul 02
The Onion News Network podcast is a hilarious parody of TV news outlets. For example, in the above clip the ONN interviews an Entertainment Scientist from the Institute for Sustainable Cyrus Use. (Watch this one through to the end. The “Next Up…” is the best part.)
The clips usually run less than two minutes and are published irregularly, but usually once or twice a week. Other recent favorites include “Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children’s Healthcare” and “Horrific 120-Car Pileup A Sad Reminder Of Princess Diana’s Death.”
Jul 01
The Parade of Awesomeness Podcast - Episode 15 - Nugget Man »
Today we hear from the hilarious Paul and Storm with their song Nugget Man, their tribute to the inventor of the chicken nugget, courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network.
If you have any thoughts about the show, I’d love to get your feedback at jeremy.harper@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!
Jun 30
This is an absolutely awesome video of a guy named Matthew Harding going around and dancing all around the world. It took 14 months to make.
Make sure you watch the HD version. (Click the HD button on the video and then click the “Watch This Video in HD link.”) It’s worth seeing the little details on this video.
Jun 27
1000 AD »
Normally I would feature this song on my Tuesday podcast, but it needs some explanation. A few weeks ago, there was a thread on Marginal Revolution where someone asked for survival tips in case he was ever transported to a random location in Europe in 1000 AD.
This thread caused a lot of debate, both on the site and on this excellent Metafilter thread. Basically, the responses fell into two camps: 1) I’m from the FUTURE! I can dazzle them with SCIENCE! and 2) No one will understand anything that I am saying and I’m going to die of extinct diseases and malnutrition.
That inspired this awesome song. Enjoy.
Jun 26
Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, gave an excellent talk at the 2008 TED conference about classical music. He’s funny and passionate and he’ll convince you that everyone loves classical music; they just don’t know it yet.
Jun 25
Wired has an interesting article today about a man who photographs secret spy satellites. Above is a photograph of a satellite that the U.S. government claims doesn’t exist.
It’s one of several of Trevor Paglen’s projects documenting things that the government tries to cover up, from hidden bases to secret CIA prisons to lists of secret projects with names like “Divine Invader” and “Shattered Castles.”
Paglen compares this secrecy to the antiscience doctrines of the Catholic Church during Galileo’s time: “More significant than the discovery itself was the idea that anyone with a telescope could verify it and see the same exact thing that Galileo saw.”
It’s a fascinating project that exposes the flaws in a “security through obscurity” policy. People spread information; secrecy cannot last forever.
Jun 24
The Parade of Awesomeness Podcast - Episode 14 - Down At Mcdonnelzz »
Today we hear from Electric Six with their song Down at McDonnelzz, courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network. This is a fun, high-energy song about people who need a place to go (GO!).
I did have some sound quality issues with my recording this week. Sorry about that. The song was not affected, so listen to that.
If you have any thoughts about the show, I’d love to get your feedback at jeremy.harper@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!
Jun 23
Ever since Foxtrot left, Pearls Before Swine has been the funniest comic strip in the daily newspapers.
I enjoy Rat’s cynicism, Pig’s naivete, and the Crocodile’s repeated failed attempts on Zebra’s life. The strip is full of dark humor that I absolutely love.
The two big books o’ comics that I own, Sgt. Piggy’s Lonely Hearts Club Comic and Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! both contain lots of hilarious comics and annotations by the author Stephan Pastis. And, as I was writing this entry, I saw that there’s a new treasury out, the Crass Menagerie, which is guaranteed a spot on my birthday list.