Tension was high Monday night as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg addressed Hurricane Sandy and its approach into the East Coast. For most viewers, though, it wasn’t the mayor’s speech that was most captivating — it was his sign language interpreter. The woman, later identified as Lydia Callis, was an instant hit across the web for her dramatic expressions and theatrical gestures during the speech. A flurry of tweets and a GIF-filled Tumblr quickly went viral as a result of the now pseudo-infamous interpretation. At first, Callis was mistakenly attributed as Lydia “Calas” — a Twitter handle and Tumblr page went up with the incorrect spelling — but a correction was soon brought public. Viewers across social media applauded her not only for her outstanding interpretations, but for giving everyone a reason to smile during a grim, stressful time. Hurricane Sandy will go down as one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history, with estimates close to $20 billion. Here’s a bit of what the Twitterverse had to say: My mother-in-law, who is an ASL interpreter says @mikebloomberg‘s signer Lydia Callis is “amazing” and “crystral clear”. Animation helps. — Daniel Bentley (@DJBentley) October 31, 2012 No making fun of Bloomberg’s sign-language translator. Seriously. Only love. She’s doing her job both very well, and with STYLE. — Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) October 29, 2012 I really want Lydia Callis (Bloomberg’s sign language interpreter) next to Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA. Can someone make this happen? — Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) October 31, 2012 Shush, everyone, Lydia Callis is signing. (Also, that Bloomberg guy is talking.) twitter.com/ditzkoff/statu… — Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) October 30, 2012 Callis even passed the ultimate threshold for solidified Internet fame by getting a parody video dedicated to her shared on YouTube. Watch the video up top and try not to grin, at least a little bit. Did you see Callis in action? Tell us what you thought. More Coverage of Hurricane Sandy The Aftermath of Superstorm Sandy Breezy Point, Queens “Destruction after fire in Breezy Point, Queens.” Via Official New York City Fire Department Breezy Point, Queens “Destruction after fire in Breezy Point, Queens.”Via Official New York City Fire Department Guantanamo Bay, Cuba “Damage being repaired on the roof of the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Arts and Crafts Center after Hurricane Sandy made landfall.” Via Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs/Sgt. Brett Perkins North Carolina Via North Carolina Department of Public Transportation Manhattan “No traffic on the FDR today. This was all under water the night before. It’s amazing how a storm like Sandy can completely shut down an entire city.” Via WanderingtheWorld South Ferry Station, Manhattan A submerged escalator at the South Ferry subway station in Lower Manhattan. Via MTA East Village, Manhattan People bail water from a basement of an East Village business. Via Brennan Cavanaugh West Village, Manhattan “Bleeker Street Pizza: OPEN- The electricity was still out, but they were making pizza anyway, with the help of their gas-fired oven and a few spelunker head […]
While many traditional media companies continue to struggle, business is booming for the social media industry. With millions of users updating statuses, posting photos and sharing articles, these networks have become massive content hubs. But how do you harness the best content and use it to engage the larger user base? How can useful news and information be created — or curated — from these communities? These are questions social networks are now working to answer by hiring editorial teams and, in effect, becoming the publishers of the future. Today we’ll discuss how social networks are evolving their content strategies with Jessica Bennett, editorial director at Tumblr, and Daniel Roth, executive editor at LinkedIn, in a live Q&A on Google+. Tune in at 3 p.m. ET by viewing the video above. Have questions or comments for Jessica and Dan? Join us in the Hangout on Mashable‘s Google+ page or tell us in the comments below. Get Your Tickets to Mashable Media Summit The Mashable Media Summit 2012 will explore the impact that technology is having on media, and how digital media is affecting our lives and changing the world. This one-day conference will bring together the brightest minds in media, including content creators, technology leaders, entrepreneurs, social media executives and journalists. Date: Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Location: The TimesCenter, 242 West 41st Street, New York, NY 10036 Tickets: Purchase tickets on Eventbrite. A Look Back at Last Year’s Mashable Media Summit Mashable Media Summit 2011 Media Summit 2011 The Mashable Media Summit on Nov. 4 at the Times Center in New York City attracted professionals in digital, tech, advertising, sales, marketing, mobile and publishing from all over the world. Media Summit 2011 We had a packed house in attendance for this year’s Media Summit. The Future of Social Media Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable, speaks on the future of social media, its current landscape and what trends to expect for 2012. Media Summit 2011 This year’s Media Summit was located at the Times Center in New York City. Social Media Grows Up: The Evolving Role of Social Media in News Organizations Mashable‘s community manager Meghan Peters chats with Katie Rogers, social media manager at The Washington Post; Anthony De Rosa, social media editor at Reuters; and Drake Martinet, social media editor at AllThingsD. Teaching – and Learning From – The Old Grey Lady Brian Stelter, a media reporter and blogger at The New York Times speaks at the Media Summit. The Filter Bubble: How to Fix Content Curation Eli Pariser, author and chairman of the board at MoveOn.org, discusses how human editors and algorithms can work together to get users clicking on content that matters. What Facebook’s New Features Mean For Journalism Adam Ostrow, executive editor and senior vice president of content, Mashable speaks with Vadim Lavrusik, journalist program manager of Facebook, about how the social network’s new features can help journalists. The Evolution of Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated Group editor, Terry […]
What happens when high school theater kids grow up and get hooked on the addictive street drug known as the interwebz? Answer: YouTube videos like this one. “Tumblr: The Musical” turns the art of Tumbln’ into a catchy tune, complete Internet meme references, web culture jokes and a cameo from Hipster Ariel. Viral Photo Gallery 7 Fake Hurricane Sandy Photos You’re Sharing on Social Media Fake Hurricane Sandy photos flew around Twitter and Facebook on Monday, as users shared jaw-dropping images. Unfortunately, the race to post the most striking pics has most folks skipping the all-important fact check. We’ve gathered up five “Hurricane Sandy” photographs that have spread on the social web, but weren’t actually taken during the massive storm. Obama and Romney Are Your New Dress Up Dolls Still not sure who to vote for? Or maybe you’re dead-set on a candidate, and simply waiting for Election Day next week. Regardless of who you’re voting for on Nov. 6, both of these presidential candidates could use some change — of outfits, that is. The websites Change4Obama and Change4Romney will keep voters entertained until the election. Both sites, created by social discovery site SocialPlex, allow users to dress up Barack Obama or Mitt Romney as various characters. You can mix and match features like hair, eyes, nose and outfits. Your Favorite Logos Reimagined for the Zombie Apocalypse [PICS] There seems to be a craze for reimagining top logos and since this is Halloween, why not rethink them for a zombie apocalypse, right? Assuming that event were to come to pass, here’s what your neighborhood Starbucks and the gas station down the street might look like, as envisioned by artist Ben Fellowes. For more of these horrifying logos, check out his site. New York City Subway Needs a ‘System Restore’ [PIC] Yes, crashed Windows OS, we know the New York City subway system was unable to restart after Hurricane Sandy. And, yes, we would love to run a system restore. After Sandy ravaged the East Coast Monday evening, the subway system in New York City was left crippled. Not immune to inclement weather, the Windows-based display above the 77th Street subway stop seemed to have hit a snag as well. ‘The Walking Dead’ Gets ‘Dear Photograph’ Treatment [PICS] Dear Photograph, a popular nostalgia blog showcasing photos within photos, gave its visitors a terrifying surprise Wednesday: The Walking Dead-inspired posts. Dear Photograph creator Taylor Jones told Mashable he teamed up with FOX International Channels on the Halloween Day images, which folks at The Walking Dead created for their international ad campaign. Each of the two blog posts showcases a zombie and a post-zombie-apocalypse caption. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/27/tumblr-the-musical-video/
Since NBC still hasn’t fixed its online streaming problems, here are three things worth seeing again from the second weekend of the Olympics. On YouTube The Olympic coverage on BBC is a bit different from ours. There’s no Ryan Seacrest conducting social media segments, no Mary Carillo wandering around the United Kingdom discovering tea and no calming voice of Bob Costas to sooth you into a night’s slumber. Instead, British viewers are treated to what the BBC does best: measured and mature coverage, with very little goofing around. However, a clip of three BBC commentators freaking out over British runner Mo Farrah’s gold medal finish is worth watching. They’re jumping out of the chairs and pumping their fists as Britain brought in six gold medals Saturday — the most in a day since 1908. Now that’s a reason to celebrate. On Twitter Once deemed ineligible to compete for having two prosthetic legs, runner Oscar Pistorius made Olympic history this weekend for being the first amputee to compete. Unfortunately his carbon-fiber legs couldn’t propel him to medal contention as he failed to qualify for the men’s 400 meter final. But many users on Twitter are congratulating him for overcoming the odds against him. Oscar Pistorius you have inspired all….congrats — Riley Pechauer (@RileyPeach3) August 6, 2012 And since its original post, this picture has more than 1,000 retweets. For us Oscar Pistorius took gold for competing at #London2012. If this picture doesn’t inspire you not sure what will. twitter.com/SolihullPolice… — Solihull Police (@SolihullPolice) August 5, 2012 On Tumblr With nearly 4,000 notes, it would’ve been difficult to miss our own Fernando Alfonso III’s fantastic GIF of Serena Williams dancing to celebrate her gold medal win, but here it is again. Williams steamrolled over Russian Maria Sharapova in just 63 minutes to capture the gold medal on Saturday. Following the 6-0, 6-1 knockout, Williams celebrated by dropping like it’s hot and doing the crip walk. One writer called it a “nice homage” to her hometown of Compton, but a Fox Sports writer got his boxers and a bunch and freaked out over the mindless shuffle. For the love of GIF, can’t we all just get along? 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”); Tempo Storm expand into Heroes of the Storm, pick up Symbiote Gaming D’Angelo gets politically righteous with ‘SNL’ performance The most embarrassing questions we’re Googling before the Super Bowl Justin Timberlake confirms baby news in the cutest way possible This article originally published at The Daily Dot here Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/08/06/must-see-olympic-moments/
