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Gmail Motion – The Real-Life Version

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Remember Google’s April Fools’ prank? Gmail Motion was – is – so ridiculous that we all knew that it was nothing but a prank. In case you missed it ((Have you been living in a cave???)), Gmail Motion is e-mail which can be controlled using your body. With this innovative Google development, all you need is your body and you can do whatever you need with your mail. As one person put it, be careful when you sneeze, though, as you may end up deleting all of your e-mails! Here’s the video of the Gmail Motion in action.

Anyhow, prank or not, the idea is actually realizable. Consciously or not, the guys behind the prank may have started something. You know how it is with creative minds, don’t you? When a bunch of guys from the Institute for Creative Technologies ((ICT at the University of Southern California)) saw the video above, their minds started working overtime.

I can just imagine them as they were watching the video. Hey, this is actually technically possible! Why don’t we give it a shot and give Google a dose of their own medicine while we’re at it?

Armed with a sensor taken from Microsoft’s Kinect (talk about the irony of it), they started a projected called the Software Library Optimizing Obligatory Waving, or SLOOW. You don’t have to be slow to use the set up, but you do have to move your butt (and other body parts). Check out the video the guys created to demo their project.

Now this isn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill scientific proposal, but it seems to work, doesn’t it? While it is real, I doubt that we’ll be seeing this kind of setup available to the general public any time soon.

Awesome Video Game Player Can Back His Words Up – With His Mouth!

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How good are you at Super Street Fighter IV? How about Super Smash Bros. Melee? Some of you may be pretty proud of what you can do, but after watching this video, I am willing to bet that you will have a different perspective.

This guy, Broly Legs is one of the best players of the two games I mentioned above. His real name is Mike Begum, and he has a condition called arthrogryposis. Also called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, the condition places a lot of limitations on the person who has it. Basically, the person will have limited use of his limbs due to the shortening of the muscles in the joints. It is also characterized by muscle weakness and fibrosis.
Broly
Broly cannot use his legs and hands. Well, he can use his left hand a little bit, but that’s not what he uses when he plays Street Fighter or Smash Bros. So what does he use? Believe it or not, he manipulates the controller using his mouth and cheeks! And this guy isn’t all talk, mind you. He says he thinks he is pretty good, and he can actually back that up with some action. A lot of action.

In this video, Broly shows just how he can kick the butt of people who have the use of both hands. And yes, you can see how he uses cheek, mouth, and tongue in a way that will put many a gamer to shame.

His words of inspiration: find what you can do and just keep at it. The next time you feel like saying “FML”, think of Broly.

Perhaps the Coolest Carnival Costume This Year

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Carnival is a season that is celebrated in various parts of the world. It is normally conducted right before Lent starts, and different areas have their own ways of celebrating. From Asia to Europe to North America to South America, Carnival is something that countless people look forward to. One thing is common: Carnival is full of festivities and fun.

Most people may know about Carnival as celebrate in places such as Brazil and Germany, but did you know that it is also celebrate in the tiny country of Cyprus? This island has a long tradition of celebrating Carnival, and can be traced to the times of Venetian rule in the 16th century. Much like many other celebrations, the Cypriot Carnival is characterized by parties, parades, and people dressing up in their most creative costumes and putting on fabulous makeup.

Speaking about creative, here is a short video clip of a guy who just might have the best Carnival costume this year. Shot in the streets of Limassol, where the Carnival is mainly celebrated, the video shows a guy in a Transformers get up.

I have to say that the costume as a whole can have cleaner lines, but the fact that he was able to create one that actually transforms smoothly deserves two thumbs up! This is definitely way better than that parody video of Optimus Prime I posted some time ago!

Predator: The Musical

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The other day, I arrived at home to hear songs from Sweeney Todd blaring over the surround sound system. I have only seen the movie in bits and pieces, but the soundtrack got me thinking about musicals. Imagine my reaction when I saw a video of Predator: The Musical!

Predator may not be the most brilliant movie you’ll ever see, but there is something to be said about Arnold Schwarzenegger, especially in his glory days.

No, we are unlikely to see the California governor on Broadway anytime soon. It is also unlikely that we’ll see a full-blown movie musical with Arnie in it. Still, this video should give you something to chuckle about on this Monday. Forget Monday Blues – “If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It” is all you need today.

The people behind the production:

Music and lyrics by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan (Conan the Barbarian: The Musical, Silence! The Musical)
Contains variations on Alan Silvestri’s landmark “Predator” score.

Dutch, Billy, Dillon, Predator: Al Kaplan
Mac and Ramirez: Jon Kaplan
Anna: Sharmila Guha

If you are a die-hard Arnie fan and you want your own copy of this, buy the video from the iTunes store.

If Only All Beer Commercials Were This Good

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Remember the TV commercial I shared late last year? It was Bahrain Telecommunications Company’s ad, which I think is one of the best commercials I have ever seen. Well, here is another commercial that caught my fancy. It is not a new one – it was created sometime last year – but the graphics and the blending of the images and sound just come together perfectly. Of course, the two dragons breathing fire kind of made everything perfect for me!

This commercial is for Sapporo beer, arguably the most popular beer in Japan. I think this ad was made to promote the beer in Canada, which is also now being brewed in Ontario. I think the ad makes excellent use of real people and CG to create a great a collage of the process of brewing Sapporo beer whilst sharing distinctive elements of the Japanese culture. I’ll speak no more about it – watch in amazement yourself!

The Human Body as a Machine

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It’s that time of the year when people make the extra effort to look good, feel good, and do something good for the special person in their lives. More likely than not, people also give extra attention to that thing we call the human body. Take that however way you wish, but here is something that got my attention just a few minutes ago.

It’s a video that has been around for some time now, but I certainly had not seen it before today. Created by Dr. Fritz Kahn, the video depicts the human body in a totally mechanical sort of way. Think about it this way – if the body were made of machines and functioned the way it does in reality, then this is how our insides would look like.

I think that the illustration and the movements of the elements are totally ace, although I would have loved to see the details more clearly. Now this would probably be much much better if displayed in high resolution on a giant screen! I also think it’s cool how the food looks like in the stomach – quite an accurate depiction, don’t you think?

The video may not be the most romantic thing that you can watch on Valentine’s Day, but it sure will present you and your partner a pretty good (short) bonding (educational) activity. (And, yes, I know. It is kinda weird.)