Daily Bits

videos

What the Heck Happened to Optimus Prime?

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I Am Optimus Prime
I seem to be running across a lot of videos these days. The first week of the month is barely over, and I have spent more time watching all sorts of videos than I have in months. Perhaps the Year of the Rabbit is bringing out the creativity in more people, but whatever the reason, I wish that this particular video portrayed Optimus Prime in a better light.

Everyone’s favorite Autobot – well maybe not everyone – just got downgraded to a dancing guy clothed in tons of padding. Don’t get me wrong. I am pretty sure that a lot of people will disagree with me – the “Likes” and comments on Facebook and YouTube will attest to that – but I just don’t get it! Before I watched the video, I had a totally open mind. A parody of “The Time” by The Black Eyed Peas – how can you go wrong?

See what I mean? Optimus Prime is too dignified a character to be portrayed like that, isn’t he? Or am I being stuck up? Then there is the girl. The girl. She is hot – no one can deny that, but sorry, I still don’t get it. Am I missing something here?

There is something good to be said about the video, though: the lyrics are funny. I think the last stanza is my “favorite”:

Well, I came here on The Ark
Looking for the All Spark
You can’t stop a Transformer
Just by putting it in Park
I’m fighting Megatron
With Megan Fox (not anymore)
Robot in disguise
More than meets the eye

If, unlike me, you found the video cool, you can see more from Angie and Chad – no offense guys, just airing out my thoughts – in their Facebook page.

When Rubik’s Cube and The Joker Collide

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Rubiks JokerRubik’s Cube is always a hit with nerds, geeks, or whatever label you want to use. Admit it, as a kid, you probably spent a considerable amount of time trying to one-up your friend in solving this puzzle. Decades later, Rubik’s Cube still holds irresistible attraction for kids of all ages. Of course, with the changing times, we also see all sorts of new things that people do with Rubik’s Cube.

Here’s a perfect example of what one can do with hundreds of Cubes. Sometime last year, artist David Alvarez decided to come up with a mosaic portrait of The Joker – the Heath Ledger version, of course. He used about 300 Rubik’s Cubes to create a pretty good representation of arguably the best Joker ever. Lest you think that it is a simple matter to put those multi-colored cubes together, I ought to tell you that Alvarez had to give his brain a little work out. Before putting the Cubes together, he first had to twist them into the appropriate color patterns.

Since I have never tried to create artwork with Rubik’s Cubes, I really don’t know difficult that is. I do think, however, that it might be a viable alternative to having to solve one of those darned puzzles. Check out the video and let me know what you think.

Here’s another video of the same artist creating another mosaic. This is an older video, actually, and he uses dice to “draw” Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. How cool is that?

A is for Arial, B is for Baskerville

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Font Alphabet
Learning the alphabet is always fun, teaching it even more so. I realize that that statement is questionable, depending on your point of view, but how can you not have fun with the alphabet if you have tools such as that book (A is for Ackbar) I wrote about recently? If Star Wars isn’t your thing, then video might do it for you.

Alessandro Novelli is obviously a font lover, and he came up with his own version of the English alphabet. Each letter stands for a font, starting with A is for Arial. It is followed by B is for Baskerville, then C if for Cochin, and then D is for Didot…

Care to complete that list before checking out the video below?

The Alphabet from n9ve on Vimeo.

I have to be honest and admit that many of the fonts in the video are unfamiliar. Then again, I have never been a “font person”. Still, the concept and its execution is worth spending a minute or so on.

If you were given the chance to create your own font alphabet, which fonts would you choose?

Meet the Human Drum Machine

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What happens when you have a talented guy with a lot of time on his hands? A lot of things can happen, actually; and if you are Daito Manabe, you just might come up with a first – a human drum machine.

Manabe has been making waves with his work as a DJ cum artist cum programmer. Music + technology + art = some pretty weird/awesome stuff?

Here’s a short video of how his unfortunate friend got to be the subject of an experiment involving a drum machine and myoelectric sensors. How does the setup work? Manabe wires both of them up and starts tapping on his friend’s face and body – wherever. These actions trigger sensors, which in turn sends electrical signals to – well, you guessed it – the “friend’s” face. The result is quite hilarious as you can see his face twitching all over the place. Don’t worry, though – it is not supposed to be painful at all. (READ: No humans have been harmed in the making of this video.)

Don’t you just love how they maintained straight faces for as long as they could?

Funny-Serious Video: Hug a Developer

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Let’s have a little fun on a Friday and watch a video, shall we?

I don’t know what you do for a living, but I am pretty sure that while a good number of just might be software developers, there are also a lot of readers like me – people who usually deal with the finished products. As consumers, we do have to admit that sometimes, we may overlook the hard work that goes into a piece of software. We might not even be aware of it in certain cases.

Now I came across a YouTube video, courtesy of a developer friend naturally, and it does give you a different perspective on the life of a developer. Whether you are working as one or you only have an inkling of what a developer does, you ought to take a minute to watch this. Now don’t blame me if you feel your eyes tearing up or if your chest starts getting a little tight along the way… 😉

As far as I know, there is no official Hug a Developer Day yet (or maybe I missed it?). What do you say to starting a movement?

For the developers out there: what can you say about the video?

Will Ferrell and Wired Tie Up

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The Apple iPad is one of the most sought after gadgets today – and no wonder. While it is small enough to be portable, it delivers only the most excellent graphics. That is why countless content providers have jumped into the fray, developing content for specifically for the iPad.

Wired.com is one such provider, but it seems that it has been having difficulty attracting enough subscribers for its iPad application. One factor is that a lot of the content offered in the paid version is also available in the web site for free.

Now, the provider is scrambling to get paid subscribers. As part of its efforts, Wired.com has created exclusive videos that can only be viewed via the iPad application. More so, it has employed the help of comedian Will Ferrell. While not everyone thinks Will Ferrell is funny (for the record, I think he is hilarious), this collaboration should serve to make the Wired iPad app more marketable.

Here’s a sampling of what is on offer.

Wired – Will Ferrell Short from Nick Bilton on Vimeo.

This is only the beginning for Wired.com’s expansion, though. In the near future, various content will be available for other gadgets such as the iPhone, tablet computers, Android phones, and the like. More so, by fall of this year, Wired.com is also planning on including social networking and sharing features.

Wired.com does provide interesting content, and the move to join forces with Will Ferrell just might be a good thing for them. Will this entice you to pay $5 for the app, though?