Top 10 Awkward TV Interviews
Maybe it’s something in the air. Maybe they were just having a bad day. Or maybe it was the handful of painkillers they swallowed moments before going on air (right Paula?). But whatever the explanation, weird, awkward interviews seem to be occurring at an ever more frequent rate. The website Double Viking has gathered the top 10 most awkward interview moments of all time.
The list includes such gems as Barbra Walters asking Katherine Hepburn what kind of tree she’d be and Tom Cruise attacking Matt Lauer about Scientology. But by far, my favorite moment is when Vanilla Ice grabs a baseball bat, destroys part of a TV set and makes Jon Stewart crap his pants.
Want to watch these YouTube clips on your iPod? Then check out this tutorial: How to Copy Files Off YouTube and Convert them for your Video iPod
BeSocial: digg story | flickr | methodshop
Modest Mouse Music Video Contest
Want to make it big as a music video director/editor? The band Modest Mouse wants help making a video for their new song “Missed the Boat.” With the help of Apple, Modest Mouse posted 12 high quality videos (each shot at a different angle) of them performing in front of a green screen.
The public is encouraged to download these video clips and edit them together into one final music video. Feel free to use your own footage and experiment the green screen.
Why is Apple generously providing massive amounts of bandwidth for people to download these giant high resolution video clips?
Should Sci Fi Green Light Outer Space Astronauts?
Sci Fi.com and Sci Fi Magazine are asking Internet users if they should pick up a new sci-fi comedy called Outer Space Astronauts.
Visitors are given access to 5 vignettes from the show on the SCI FI Pulse Broadband Network and asked to fill out a survey explaining what they think. Sci Fi says it will also take traffic into account when deciding whether or not to pick up the show.
Think you know how to program the American Sci Fi Channel better than NBC Universal? After they started airing wrestling on the Sci Fi Channel… who doesn’t.
You can watch the Outer Space Astronauts clips here.
BeSocial: digg story | flickr | methodshop
Bill Gates Hates Apple Ads
Recently Bob Garfield, from AdAge, got to interview Bill Gates during the Corbis Creativity 2.0 panel in Manhattan. Garfield asked Gates about a number of topics from Vista to IPTV. He also tried to get Gates to comment on a very sensitive topic… Apple’s “Get a Mac” advertising campaign. The campaign features actor/author John Hodgman who looks like Bill Gates and personifies a PC.
As you can imagine, Bill Gates is not amused by the ads. Here’s the portion of the interview transcript where Garfield asks Gates about the ads. Enjoy:
GARFIELD: I want to ask you one more thing: Those Mac ads — how do you feel about the John Hodgman character?
GATES: I can’t comment on someone else’s ad.
GARFIELD: OK … but he’s you.
GATES: Yeah, I’m not gonna comment on someone else’s ad.
GARFIELD: OK, well, Bill Gates, thank you so much for joining us.
(Silence)
GARFIELD: Can I just have a clean goodbye?
(Silence)
GARFIELD: OK, can you just say goodbye? Thank you or goodbye or something like that?
GATES: Goodbye.
BeSocial: linkcritics | methodshop
Apple Asks Video Podcasters to Increase Quality
Last week Apple sent out an email (screenshot courtesy of TechCrunch.com) to video podcasters asking them to increase the quality of their productions and start formatting their videos for the big screen. Since the launch of the Apple TV (full review here) in March, Apple TVs have been selling like hotcakes and video podcast subscription numbers have skyrocketed.
Apple TV owners, who don’t necessarily want to spend lots of money in the iTunes Store, are gobbling up video podcasts like never before. Even though there currently isn’t any HD quality videos for sale in the iTunes Store, the Apple TV is capable of HD video playback. So several popular video podcasters, including The Washington Post, TWIT (MacBreak), Revision3 (Diggnation) and Vintage Tooncast, have decided to fill the void of HD content by distributing their podcasts in HD or hi res quality.
Why hasn’t everyone started distributing their video podcasts in HD? Money. Not only does producing an HD podcasts require extra hard drive space (roughly 4 times more), special cameras and editing software, but just hosting these giant video files on the Internet can be enough to bankrupt your entire production. For example, the iPod Video version of MacBreak episode 63 is 21 MBs. The HD version is 93 MBs. To help alleviate increased HD production costs, many podcasters have reached out to HD television manufacturers like Samsung and Panasonic to get them to sponsor their new HD podcasts.
For video podcasters who are still producing content at 320×240 but want to do something to increase quality, there is an intermediary step before going HD. Podcasters can start by migrating their productions to 640×480, or even 640×360 (letterbox). This way their video files will still be compatible with portable media players like the Zune and iPod, but will also work on the Apple TV. If the material is carefully encoded, it will look as good or better than typical TV.
Top 5 TV Shows that Should be Canceled
Here is MSNBC.com’s list of the top 5 American TV shows that should be canceled. I have a feeling that a lot of people aren’t going to agree with the top three.
Let the fireworks begin…
Disagree? Want to talk about it? You’re not alone. Head over to the MSNBC.com Message Boards and join in the discussion.
“The Simpson’s stopped being funny years ago.” ~ Ghazi
“Lost needs to start getting down to business. It’s losing it’s appeal. Start answering questions outright already and get to the damn point.” ~ primehifi
You can see the MSNBC.com list here: Top 5 TV Shows that Should be Canceled
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop
Fast Food: Ads vs Reality
Here’s a photo comparison of fast food items and their advertising images. Each item was purchased, taken home, and photographed immediately. Nothing was tampered with, run over by a car, or anything of the sort. It is an accurate representation in every case. Shiny, neon-orange, liquefied pump-cheese, and all…
You can see more pictures from the article “Fast Food: Ads vs Reality” on http://www.thewvsr.com
BeSocial: digg it | methodshop
Lonelygirl15 Creators Announce Spinoff
Lonelygirl15, the teenage video diary that became a huge hit on YouTube but turned out to be a fiction, is destined for a UK spin-off after its creators tied up with social networking website Bebo.
Lonelygirl15 Presents… KateModern will debut in July with several weekly episodes available exclusively to Bebo users in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
The original series of webcam diary entries from teenage girl Bree generated some 50 million views via YouTube and other user-generated video sites like Revver.com.
The popularity of the property remained undented when it came to light that Bree was in fact a character being played by an actress. In fact, the controversy actually helped increase the buzz around Lonelygirl15 and even influenced a line of t-shirts. Now its creators, Miles Beckett, Greg Goodfried and Mesh Flinders, are turning their attentions to the UK.
KateModern will expand on the original Lonelygirl storyline, focusing on a university student in London and her “struggle to balance her complex social life with the dark forces that shadow her.”
As with Lonelygirl15, KateModern promises to incorporate puzzles and mysteries into the plot, which will carry over into ‘real life,’ allowing viewers to participate in the storyline through the integrated alternate reality game.
BeSocial: digg it | Lonelygirl15 videos | methodshop
Worst Acting Ever - David Caruso
Here’s a 7 minute YouTube montage of the worst acting ever printed on film. David Caruso is ridiculous. 9 out of 10 times he’ll put on his dorky sunglasses right before he says one of his lame one liners on the US crime drama C.S.I. Miami. How sad is it when your character’s dry charm and self-confident appeal are a direct result of a pair of sunglasses.
Seriously, when did talking slow and putting on sunglasses become “acting.”
David Caruso’s bad acting and dorky ‘Sunglasses of Justice‘ would probably make for a good drinking game. The only problem is, his acting is so bad that he makes C.S.I. Miami unwatchable.
If you want to download this clip and convert it for your iPod, then check out this tutorial: How to Copy Videos Off YouTube.
BeSocial: youtube | digg story | methodshop
Million Dollar Remote on Amazon
Amazon.com is currently selling a $999,999.00 1/2 ounce plastic SiK rex remote control that works with the Apple MacBook Pro, iPod Universal Dock, Apple TV, Front Row, iPod Hi-Fi and is Front Row compatible.
No joke. You can see the SiK rex Amazon page here.
Sound too expensive for a little piece of plastic? What if i told you that the remote can be stored in the ExpressCard/34 slot of your MacBook Pro…
Yeah, I’m not convinced it’s worth it. But if Bill Gates is reading this…. hurry dude, there is only one left in stock!
This is obviously a just a typo. So I took a screenshot of the million dollar SiK rex remote page and posted it here on flickr in case Amazon takes the page down.
If you are still interested in the SiK rex remote control but not the million dollar price tag, you can also purchase one used or from a 3rd party on Amazon.com for only $25.
BeSocial: digg story | amazon | methodshop