Merry Miller TV Disaster
Merry Miller is the Senior Programming Director for The Learning Annex in New York, USA. She was named as one of the 40 “rising stars” in 2007 by Crain’s magazine and is a former Miss Dallas. But that’s where this “rising star” starts to fade.
In late July of 2007, Merry conducted a poorly done interview with Holly Hunter on ABC News Now’s segment “What’s The Buzz.” Since its broadcast, the disastrous interview has been heavily viewed on YouTube [link] and other online video sites.
Not only were the interview questions awful, but for some reason Merry decides to phonetically read off the teleprompter - like a child. She also gives the wrong month for Holly Hunter’s show premiere (June instead of July) and accidentally encourages viewers to go to nbcnews.com not ABC News.com.
Merry Miller, welcome to the TV Disaster Hall of Fame! I’m sure NBC loved the plug.
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Daft Hands Becomes Internet Sensation
Have you heard about the YouTube clip called “Daft Hands” yet? It’s single-shot music video set to the the Daft Punk song “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” One camera. One shot. Two hands. Doesn’t really sound that exciting does it? Trust me, it’s worth watching. The beginning is dull. Just hang in there until the lyrics start. “Daft Hands” was featured in the Best of YouTube Video Podcast yesterday and, as of this morning, had over a million views on YouTube.
Check out this tutorial if you want to learn how to save this YouTube clip onto your hard drive: How To Copy Videos Off YouTube
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Cheapest Linux Box Ever
Linux users are so creative… and cheap. Sometimes their love for free open source software takes hold in other ways. For example, check out this picture of a custom Linux box I found on afrotechmods.com.
Ubuntu Feisty OS: $0.00. Cardboard box: $0.00. Duct tape: $1.00.
Having the bitchin’est case mod this side of the trailer park: priceless.
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Sparky - Alexa Firefox Toolbar
Like to see how websites rate against each other while you browse the Internet?
Alexa, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, has been providing information on web traffic since 1996. Once you install the Alexa Toolbar, you can then view traffic trends, reach and rank, of any site you visit on the Internet. The toolbar then feeds traffic data of the sites you visit back to Alexa. There are billions of people on the Internet and only a minor portion of them have the Alexa Toolbar. This population provides a “sample” of users that Alexa uses to measure web activity and page popularity.
But their toolbar has only been available for PC users with Internet Explorer. For example, here’s the MethodShop.com Alexa Internet Explorer PC only toolbar. Macintosh and PC users with Firefox have been left out of the Alexa sample… until now. An Alexa toolbar called “Sparky” for Firefox was finally released last week.
Why should you care about the Alexa Toolbar? Most people don’t. But if you want to support your favorite websites, then you might want Alexa to track what sites you visit. Many webmasters use Alexa ranking to set advertising rates.
If you are interested, you can get the Alexa Sparky Toolbar for Firefox here.
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Original 1983 iPhone (PIC)
The iPhone may be Apple’s first “official” phone, but apparently they toyed with the idea 25 years ago. Way back in 1983, designer Hartmut Esslinger, the same guy who made the Apple IIc computer, came up with this phone/tablet prototype.
Writing an electronic check with the 1983 iPhone.
The 1983 version of the iPhone obviously never made it into production, but it’s still a cool concept. Although writing a physical electronic check seems a little silly now that we have online banking. The image is from fudder.de.
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Laryngitis hits Silverchair’s Daniel Johns on Jay Leno show
Unfortunately Silverchair has postponed 4 California shows on their current U.S. Tour to allow singer, Daniel Johns to recover fully from a case of laryngitis. Daniel caught the viral throat infection earlier this week after flying from Sydney/Los Angeles/Toronto/New York/Los Angeles in just four days. As you might have heard, the laryngitis severely impeded Daniel’s vocal performance on the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” last Tuesday. If you haven’t seen the video yet, here’s a clip of the Leno performance I found on YouTube. It’s tough to watch, especially if you’ve ever had laryngitis before. Daniel basically had to scream through the most of the song. When the camera zooms in on Daniel’s face you can clearly see he looks like he’s in pain.
While his Doctor had initially been hopeful that Daniel’s laryngitis would clear up “in a day or two”, he has since advised that the Silverchair frontman should “avoid singing for 4 to 6 days” in order to be guaranteed of making a full recovery. The Doctor also advised that singing during this time could risk permanent damage to Daniel’s voice so the band has no choice but to reschedule the 4 California shows and to apologize to the fans who will be inconvenienced by this change.
Dates for the rest of Silverchair’s Young Modern World Tour are not expected to be affected in any way by this temporary throat infection.
MethodShop.com recently did an interview with Silverchair. They were very excited about this new album and really looking forward to touring the U.S. again. I hope Daniel’s laryngitis doesn’t derail the tour too badly. They’ve had everything from an eating disorder to reactive arthritis screw up their previous tours.
Silverchair’s new album, Young Modern, comes out July 24th.
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Nirvana Baby Turns 17
Not only did Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind knock Michael Jackson off the charts and end the reign of hair metal, but it also made an image of a little naked baby swimming after a dollar bill famous.
Who was that naked baby? His name is Spencer Eden and he just turned 17 this year. Feeling old yet? I am. The majority of Nirvana fans are now officially 30+.
I wonder if Spencer realizes that more people have seen his penis than Ron Jeremy’s?
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Silverchair Interview
When someone mentions the band Silverchair, your first thought or memory will vary depending on where you’re from. People in the U.S. and Europe may only remember Silverchair as a few kids who skyrocketed to stardom in 1994 after their first album, Frogstomp. Thanks to such hit songs as “Tomorrow” and “Israel’s Son,” the Australian trio, consisting of singer/guitarist/songwriter Daniel Johns, drummer Ben Gillies and bass player Chris Joannou, became international superstars when they were only fifteen years old.
Since 1994, the last decade has been a mix of trying tests and triumphs for Silverchair. Battles with extreme fame at an early age, an eating disorder, and a case of reactive arthritis kept the band mostly grounded in their home continent Australia. But despite these setbacks, Silverchair managed to pass the time by repeatedly making hit records and racking up more #1 albums than any other Aussie band including AC/DC, Midnight Oil and INXS.
Silverchair’s latest album, Young Modern, is their first new record in 6 years, and the tour supporting it will be their first U.S. tour in over a decade. Even though Silverchair was in the middle of launching their U.S. tour, Daniel Johns and Chris Joannou found a little time to do a quick interview with MethodShop.com. They were humble, candid and even funny. Enjoy…
Interview: Silverchair (Young Modern)
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iPhone Termination Fee Making Lawmakers Upset
Apple’s iPhone has enjoyed favorable reviews since its recent debut, but it got some criticism on Capitol Hill in Washington this week.
The phones, which cost between $500 and $600—are usable only on AT&T Inc.’s wireless network and will remain that way until 2012. Even though the phones become expensive paperweights if customers quit AT&T’s wireless plan, the company will still charge a $175 early termination fee, said Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., chairman of a House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.
Markey described the phone as a “Hotel California service. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave—you’re stuck with your iPhone and you can’t take it anywhere.”
Timothy Wu, a law professor at Columbia University and commentator on technology issues, described the cell phone industry as “spectrum- based oligopoly” where customers have given up their property rights.
“Imagine buying a television that stopped working if you decided to switch to satellite,” Wu said. “Or a toaster that died if you switched from Potomac Power to ConEd.”
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MSNBC Reporter Kills Paris Hilton Story - Becomes Internet Sensation
A lighter and paper shredder helped make Mika Brzezinski the “symbol of television journalism’s guilt trip” about Paris Hilton. Brzezinski used both to destroy a script calling for her to read about Hilton’s release from jail on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program recently. Part serious, part an act, it has become an Internet sensation. More than 2 million people have watched a clip of the incident on YouTube, around 10 times the number who watched it live on TV. Apparently, she’s not the only one sick of the socialite.
“Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we’re tired of pretending this is important,” she said. “We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don’t believe this is news. They can’t. They can’t think we’re that dumb.”
Brzezinski, who left CBS News last year, has been working as a news- reader and on-air foil for Joe Scarborough on the show MSNBC is trying out to replace Don Imus in the morning.
Hours after Hilton’s June 26 catwalk to freedom, Joe Scarborough (widget) and Brzezinski discussed one of the day’s other big stories at their show’s opening: influential Republican Sen. Richard Lugar’s declaration that President Bush’s Iraq strategy wasn’t working.
It was then Brzezinski’s turn to sum up the day’s news. She looked down at her script and Hilton was the top story. She froze.
“I could not get through the first three words without crumbling,” she said. “My skin was crawling. This was our lead? On a day like this? To me, it was just the ultimate Paris Hilton out-of-control moment. We’ve gone too far and we’ve got to stop. That was all real. There was nothing planned about that, and I believe we got a little snappy.”
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