Sometimes in life, there’s a camera in the right place at the right time. As it turns out, this video shows us one of those instances. When a young woman decided to record herself microwaving an egg for all the Internet to see, something happened that made us burst out laughing (mainly due to secondhand embarrassment). Please don’t try this nonsense at home. Yeah…I don’t think she’ll be doing that again anytime soon. Just a hunch. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/microwave-egg/
In this corner, standing at five feet, six inches and host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Jon Stewart! And in the other corner, at six feet, four inches and host of Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly! The two frequent adversaries, who often appear on one another’s shows, are scheduled for a live, 90-minute debate on Oct. 6. The showdown will be held at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “The Rumble In The Air-Conditioned Auditorium,” as it’s being called, will be livestreamed for a small charge, with half of the proceeds going toward charity. “In order to illuminate the vital issues associated with the upcoming presidential election, Stewart and I will debate man-to-man, eye-to-eye,” said O’Reilly on his Monday broadcast. “Well, not really. He’s a tiny guy.” For more, visit TheRumble2012.com. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/18/stewart-oreilly-debate/
If you’ve ever visited the Lincoln Memorial, you know that it can be a moving experience. Standing in the presence of American history in such a massive space is pretty humbling as it is, which makes what this woman just did even more incredible. As tourists crowded around the famous statue, singer G. Star Swain decided to take advantage of the acoustics and treat everyone to a special performance. And she couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate song. I hope something like this happens next time I make my way to D.C. This is an experience those tourists will never forget. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/national-anthem/
In Australia, the seasons are reversed from the way we experience them here in North America. Now, as North America is preparing for the wonder that is fall, Australia is getting ready for spring. And what better way to kick off the season than by finding two male carpet pythons fighting each other right outside your window? googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBP_ATF’); }); From the uploader: “Two male carpet pythons locked in combat outside the window after falling from roof on first day of Australian spring. My son and I watched with fascination and slight disgust, and unfortunately, he learned a few swear words.” Oh, that is the most terrifying thing ever. And remember, this is the just the start of spring. Imagine how many more horrible situations are likely to befall the maker of this video by the time summer rolls around? Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/python-duel/
Driving in the winter is incredibly difficult. The roads are sometimes icy and snowy, your heater doesn’t churn out hot air as fast as you’d like, and of course, you windows get foggy making it hard to see. Well if you don’t want to deal with that last one, here’s the quickest way to get your windows cleared up plus the scientific explanation behind it. (via Gizmodo) Now you’ll never be stuck squinting to see out the windshield again. We can all live and drive in peace…for the most part. Didn’t really cure the icy roads or anything, but it’s a start! Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/defrost-windows/
The sports highlight is extremely predictable by now: an amazing play, sequence or moment is replayed from one or more angles, while a news anchor or announcer recaps what happened. Sometimes the video runs along with its original play-by-play audio, or maybe with the live radio call. But, in the age of social media permeation and mobile video proliferation, this is no longer enough, according to UNITE, a new late-night show that airs on ESPNU. The social media-heavy show has introduced a regular installment called “social highlights,” which leverage just how much video modern fans shoot on their smartphones while at the game. The idea is simple, but pretty powerful. Footage from commercial TV broadcasts and radio audio clips are edited together with video fans get from the stands and share to Twitter or YouTube. The result? Immersive highlights of major sports moments. “We wanted to find a way to find a different side of what a highlight is, something you wouldn’t normally see unless we aggregated the videos and put them with some high quality production,” UNITE producer Yaron Deskalo told Mashable. The example above shows the final outs of Seattle Mariner Felix Hernandez’s perfect game in August. More recent examples include the controversial ending of the Packers-Seahawks NFL game in September and North Carolina State’s last-second touchdown to beat Florida State last weekend. Deskalo produced one similar video while working on an E:60 production for ESPN a couple years ago, which planted the seed for UNITE’s social highlights. Today, however, there are few if any other examples of networks consistently producing installments that combine professionally edited broadcast highlights with fan-sourced video. The social highlights air on UNITE weekly, then go up on YouTube if ESPNU has rights to the broadcast clips used. Some have even made their way on to ESPN and ESPN2. UNITE producers scour YouTube for fan video then incorporate between five and 10 into each highlight after obtaining permission from the amateur shooters. While the resulting clips currently air primarily on a late-night show on a station that few but the most hardcore sports fans regularly watch, it’s not hard to imagine similar highlight packages becoming more mainstream sooner than later. “People are going to to able to film at these games more and more, and if we can find a way to get them to us, we’ll be able to find new ways to tell these stories,” Deskalo says. “We’re not there just yet, but I think in the next couple years we’ll start to see more social video elements in regular highlights.” Would you like to see this trend catch on — or do you prefer the traditional highlight format? Give us your take in the comments. BONUS: Who to Follow on Twitter This NFL Season 32 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts for the NFL Fan @NFL The league’s official account. A no-brainer for any NFL fan. @DeseanJackson10 The Eagles receiver is a hoot to follow because you never know what you’re going to get, […]
Penny Arcade, a popular gaming web comic, is asking its fans to fund its advertising revenue for an entire year so it can remove ads from its website. The creators of Penny Arcade launched a Kickstarter Tuesday morning asking for at least $250,000 to remove advertisements from their site for the 2013 calendar year. The comic was started 14 years ago by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, better known as their alter-egos Gabe and Tycho. Since then, it has spawned two annual conventions that attract 70,000 gamers each, a charity that has raised millions to improve the lives of children in hospitals, and a series of video games. The Kickstarter goal represents just the amount of revenue Penny Arcade would lose by eliminating advertisements. Krahulik says not worrying about pageviews — which are around 70 million per month — or ad revenue would free up the staff of Penny Arcade, 14 in total, to work on other projects. “We have two ad sales people, but they also work on PAX [the convention] and developing things like the new Penny Arcade video game. If they didn’t have to sell ads they would just have more time to devote to our creative projects. This seems like a good thing to us,” Krahulik told Mashable. Krahulik hinted on Twitter that many of those other projects would be new content for fans to supplement the comic, which publishes three times a week. He and Holkins have worked on projects for game companies to boost their advertising revenue, and he hopes he can devote more time for making things for Penny Arcade’s large fanbase. to everyone telling me we are crazy…I agree. — cwgabriel (@cwgabriel) July 10, 2012 Removing advertisements would also remove any allegations of bias from games Penny Arcade promotes, and also prevent sticky situations from when the comic pans a game the site is currently running ads for. “No company likes to pay for an ad and then see us skewer their game the next day. It’s nothing we can’t handle but if we could avoid it all together that would be cool,” Krahulik said. While the comparisons have been made to member-supported media like NPR, but the situation is different because Krahulik will still try to make a profit off its other ventures and merchandise sales. If the Kickstarter doesn’t reach its goal, Krahulik says they will not pursue any other form of donations, such as a pay wall, and will continue business as normal. Do you think web comics could support themselves without advertising? What do you think this experiment means for online comics, or other media? Let us know in the comments. window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement(‘script’);js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}; _msla(“//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”twitter_jssdk”); Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/10/penny-arcade-no-ads/
eyetracking-cropped Top Banner Ad Take a look at the next four slides. Which ad do you think will receive the most eyeballs? Right Above Fold Left Above Fold Right Below Fold Industry Average for Different Placements If you want eyeballs — and who doesn’t — the best ad placement is on the left side above the fold. The worst is below the fold. Ads Without Faces Now let’s take a look at side ads — seen by 84% of people on the left and 74% of people on the right. Do you notice the two side ads without faces? How Your Eyes See Ads Without Faces Ads With Faces What about the two side ads with Faces? How Your Eyes See Ads With Faces Industry Averages The most successful ads, noticed by a full 100% of people, have faces. In order to make the most of your ad dollars, include people in your ad campaigns. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/06/eye-tracking-online-ads/
There are some songs that never fail to bring a tear to my eye. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve heard “The Christmas Shoes,” but every time it comes on the radio, I start blubbering like a baby. This precious ten-month-old proves that you don’t even need to comprehend the lyrics to be moved by a piece of music. When her mom begins to sing a song, the little baby just can’t hold back her tears. The result is one of the cutest videos to ever hit YouTube, as evidenced by its 39 million views to date. Watch as this baby experiences just how emotional music can be. Read More: This Little Girl Hasn’t Seen Her Mom Clearly Until This Very Heartwarming Moment What a beautiful little soul! Don’t forget to share this heartwarming mother-daughter moment with your friends and family. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/emotional-baby/
