LOS ANGELES — Are Google and Hollywood, like, an item now? Anyone else notice these two have been getting a lot cozier lately? Several weeks after Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar became the first official movie website co-created by Google, Lionsgate has partnered with YouTube to promote The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 with “District Voices,” the latest campaign from Google’s Art, Copy & Code incubator. The five-part video series features different popular YouTube creators whose channel “aligns with a specific industry from one of the districts of Panem,” the companies said in announcing the project Monday. Each episode, shot at the YouTube Space LA facility in Playa Vista and around Los Angeles, is presented as programming from the Panem government’s official “Capitol TV,” spotlights life in one of the different districts. A new video will drop each day this week, starting Monday at 4 p.m. ET with District 8, in which “Threadbanger” YouTube channel co-creators Rob Czar and Corinne Leigh will show the best uses of Peacekeeper armor. Other videos will feature Peacekeeper training, baking techniques from the grain-producing District 9 and segments on electricity generation and transportation. It’s not the first time Hollywood has stopped by YouTube Space LA, which built an entire Godzilla set for its creators to play with earlier this year, and is currently hosting Halloween and horror-themed sets created by Guillermo Del Toro. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 hit theaters worldwide on Nov. 21. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/10/20/the-hunger-games-is-the-next-film-franchise-with-a-google-promotion/
Even though I love “The X-Files,” I’ve never seriously considered the possibility that UFOs actually exist. Most of the people who claim to have seen them seem a bit crazy, and their stories sound very similar to each other — especially when it comes to their lack of details. But one woman in Staffordshire, England, might just convince me that aliens are real with her eyewitness account of a supposed UFO encounter. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBP_ATF’); }); Back in the 1950s, a woman named Jessie Roestenberg heard a strange sound while watching her sons play outside — and her story of what happened next is so convincing that it’s more than a little disturbing. Get ready to question everything you believe. The amount of detail she gives is amazing! Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be looking at the sky more carefully from now on. You never know what could be out there… Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/ufo-eyewitness-testimony/
One of the biggest pains in the butt during the winter is shoveling snow. It’s such a hassle, and no one wants to do it. It’s very taxing on the body because it’s hard work, it’s cold outside, and you could slip on the snow or ice at any moment. But this disabled war veteran didn’t let that stop him from shoveling snow for himself — and his neighbors! He used his high-powered wheelchair and a connected snow plow to get it done. That’s awesome! Even after coming home, this vet lives to help those in need. Absolutely amazing. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/snow-plow/
Killed in the line of duty while pursuing a double homicide suspect, Las Vegas Metro K9 Nicky was given a hero’s send-off and an emotional ‘bark of honor’ by his canine friends. The eight-year-old Belgian Malinois had worked with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for six years and survived a brutal stabbing just two months earlier before being shot during a deadly standoff with the armed murderer. In a touching tribute to their fallen comrade, a dozen other K9 units barked their goodbyes at the conclusion of Nicky’s funeral service. What a touching tribute to a fallen friend. To see the other K9 teams paired up like that, in honor of Nicky, really tugs at the heartstrings. Thank you for your service, Nicky Watch the rest of Nicky’s emotional memorial service: Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/bark-of-honor/
Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani With a new software update, Google Glass users will now be able to see notifications just by moving their eyes. Usually, when a Glass user receives an alert, the device will sound a chime, but the screen won’t show what the alert is unless the user either nods or taps the touchpad. With the new update, all a Glass wearer has to do is glance at the virtual screen. Image: Google In a Google+ post, Google said the feature was experimental. There’s no question it makes seeing alerts even more convenient than before, although it may end up making them too convenient — Glass has already been criticized for its potential to distract. Making alerts “glanceable” adds a layer of social acceptability, however. If the wearer were, say, in a business meeting or in church, tapping his or her headset or nodding might be distracting to the people around them, whereas a quick glance would probably go virtually unnoticed. Glass owners can enable the feature via a “Notification glance” card in the device’s settings. Like other experimental features, such as “Wink for picture,” the new glanceable notifications may not make it into the final product for the general public, which will reportedly be available this year. A beta version of Glass is currently available to the public. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/06/04/google-glass-glanceable-notifications/
Sports are getting more attention at SXSW next year. SXsports, which was announced on Tuesday, will be an offshoot of the festival filled with media, technology and other creative industries. SXsports will take place from March 7 to 9, and is open to those who register for the film and interactive conferences. SXSW runs from March 7 to 16. The offshoot’s highlights will incude a panel featuring ESPN columnist Bill Simmons and FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver. Simmons was among the earliest stars of online sports columnizing, while Silver is the data whiz who famously delivered a flawless prediction of the 2012 presidential election results. Both now run their own sites for ESPN. Simmons founded Grantland in 2011, and Silver left The New York Times in July to reboot FiveThirtyEight with a partial sports focus for ESPN. “The world of sports truly hits the sweet spot of SXSW, the vital intersection of entertainment and technology, and we intend to approach it with the same forward-thinking and culturally relevant perspective we shine on all of our events,” Rebecca Feferman, head of media relations for SXSW’s film component, said in a statement. “We can’t wait to connect the sports world with our passionate audience of early adopters, culture nuts, digital creatives and so much more.” Other announced participants in panels and events include Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Sports Media and part-owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors; Bryan Srabian, the mastermind behind the San Francisco Giants’ massive social media following; and Kliff Kingsbury, the head football coach at Texas Tech University. Do you think SXsports is a good idea, and would you attend? Tell us in the comments. BONUS: Retro NBA Ads Starring NBA Players Retro Ads Featuring NBA Players Wilt Chamberlain for Coleco, 1973 Julius Irving for Chapstick, 1980 Earl Monroe for Jordache, 1980 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for Atari, 1981 Dr. J for Crest, 1983 Dr. J and Bill Cosby for Coca-Cola, 1984 Dominique Wilkins for Reebok, 1989 Bill Walton for Reebok, 1991 Allen Iverson and Jadakiss for Reebok, 1996 Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/10/01/sxsw-sports-sxsports/
Apple kicked off its 25th annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday with a video that serves as a kind of love letter to developers. In the nearly five-minute video, called “Apps We Can’t Live Without,” a series of random users are interviewed about their favorite apps and what they think about the developers behind them. “They make our lives better,” one woman says to the camera. “And they think of things that obviously regular people can’t think of.” Some of the apps highlighted in the video are big names that most users know about, including Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and Airbnb. An architect praises FiftyThree’s Paper app, while one woman says Airbnb “saved my life.” The video then moves on to several niche apps that get less attention. An ocean advocate discusses the usefulness of Marine Debris Tracker, and a student praises Biosim, an app that works with his bionic hand. Overall, the video is a powerful reminder of the wide range of apps that have popped up in the last six years — and the equally wide range of people whose lives are impacted by them. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/06/02/apple-developers-video-wwdc-2014/
Got a question for Karnjanaprakorn? Use the chat feature above to get it answered live! Karnjanaprakorn is the CEO and co-founder of Skillshare, a community marketplace for classes. Skillshare is a community of teachers and students driven by a passion to share real-word skills through collaborative learning. Previously, Karnjanaprakorn led the product team at HotPotato, which was acquired by Facebook, and developed products and services that organized the creative world at Behance. He is also a venture advisor for Collaborative Fund, a 2012 TED Fellow and was listed as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2012 by Fast Company. Karnjanaprakorn is a graduate of the University of Virginia and VCU Brandcenter. He currently lives in the East Village, New York City. #StartupLab is a free virtual mentorship program created by The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of over 500 of America’s most successful young entrepreneurs who have, collectively, generated tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. #StartupLab offers millions of entrepreneurs, small business owners and startup founders the tactical advice they need to launch and grow new businesses via live, interactive video chats, educational content and mentorship opportunities — right on Facebook. Scott Gerber Scott Gerber is a serial entrepreneur, author (Never Get a ‘Real’ Job), TV commentator and founder of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneur…More Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/13/live-chat-skillshare/
The story of the Loch Ness monster is known worldwide. The aquatic creature, or as she’s more commonly referred to as “Nessie,” first made major headlines in August 1933 when the Courier published a report recounting how a couple who had been driving around the Loch, had been approached by a dragon-like sea creature. Since that infamous publication, verbal retellings and anecdotes have been passed down from generation to generation, while some brave souls set out to the isles of Scotland to try their best to seek out the mysterious water creature. Despite the numerous written reports concerning Nessie, there has been very little photographic evidence to support the rumors. The first known photograph believed to have been the Loch Ness Monster was taken on December 6, 1933. The mysterious photos were taken by Hugh Gray and were published in the Daily Express. These published photos eventually led Scotland’s Secretary of State to force police officers in the region to patrol the area in hopes of preventing any future attacks. And over 80 years after the Loch Ness Monster first became a household name, Ireland might be plagued with Nessie’s distant little cousin. In the spring of 2013, three college students were enjoying a day on the water while filming a short film for one of their classes. The men embarked on a day’s journey on the Lough Foyle, a large tidal estuary in County Donegal, Ireland when they noticed something odd bobbing around in the water. In the nearly minute-long clip, a dark object can be seen slowly advancing along the ocean water, while occasionally bobbing its head in and out of the water. One of the students, Conall Melarkey posted the clip on Youtube with the caption, “It was massive. Really don’t know what it was… Looks like we have our own Loch Ness monster!” <div class="llcust" data-lltype="video" id="ll_5a309997b4e63" data-source=" Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/irish-water-monster/
Have you ever put the TV show you were watching on mute only to swear that you could hear the characters talking whenever you looked back at the screen? For me, this has happened quite a few times and I’ve had to wonder whether I did, in fact, turn the volume all the way down or if I was just going a little crazy. As it turns out, I’m not alone. A gif is making the rounds on Twitter, baffling most who watch it. Like every other gif, it’s silent — but people claim they can hear something while watching it. Here’s the gif in question, which was created by Twitter user Happy Toast. Do you hear anything when you play it? WHY CAN I HEAR THIS GIF 😭 pic.twitter.com/8UifgPBk56 — Best Tweet (@BestTwlt) April 17, 2017 If you can, you’re among the majority. Dr. Lisa Debruine, a researcher at the University of Glasgow, created a poll asking users whether they could hear something from the gif. About 75 percent answered they could hear a thudding sound, while 3 percent reported hearing “something else.” Does anyone in visual perception know why you can hear this gif? pic.twitter.com/mcT22Lzfkp — Lisa DeBruine 🏳️🌈 (@lisadebruine) December 2, 2017 The phenomenon actually isn’t unique to this particular gif. Chances are you can also hear a similar thudding sound while watching the one below. Visual representations such as these show how what you see can influence what you hear — or, what you think you hear. For certain visual information and movements the brain is familiar with, such as jumping, it will sometimes produce the sounds it predicts will accompany them. <div class="llcust" data-lltype="video" id="ll_5a2b52e5d3fe5" data-source=" Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/silent-gif-heard/
