Did You Know 4.0

In an update to their much viewed Shift Happens video from 2007, XPLANE Visual Thinking has released a new bunch-of-amazing-earth-changing-statistics-set-to-motion-graphics-and-ethereal-music-type video, with a focus on social media and connectivity. It's good, and at the very least, you can sit back and watch, be amazed by it, and then continue on with your 2272 text messages a month.

Hot Pepper

Whatever kind of day you are having, it is about to change.



Needless to say, I have watched this a zillion times, can't get the song out of my head, have no idea what I am singing, and am loving every minute of it.

For the diehards, like me, who can't get enough of this little diddy, there are some alternate versions of varying length and content here, as well as a pretty swell extended remix here. Also, if you're wanting to delve deeper into the mysterious origins of this earworm, it's an ad for a local Japanese newsmagazine called Hot Pepper, and it features a J-Pop artist named Kaela Kimura, who really has some sweet dance moves.

(originally found via videogum)

Train Station Musical

I'm sure everyone wishes in some small way that a musical would break out in the middle of their daily life, so I'm sure everyone can't get too tired of these "impromptu" performances in train stations. Here's the latest, with a description automatically translated by Google (I gather it's a stunt to promote a How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? style show):

"Antwerp Central goes out of his roof because Looking for Maria is coming! View more than 200 dancers and dancers of the station on his head onto the sounds of the Sound of Music!"

Twitter My Life Away

I may have just bought a minivan, I may have started to wear socks to bed, I may have only sent three text messages in my life, and I may have mistakenly believed that I was a year older than I actually am, but I'm not old enough yet to miss jumping on the Twitter bandwagon.

While I'm approaching level 5 on the "5 Stages of Twitter Acceptance" chart, I still realize the insanity of it all, which is magnificently lampooned in this animated short.



You can drop by and tweet hello: @nickfruhling

Macworld Live

When I was at Macworld, I had some unexpected fun dancing on stage with famous quirky dancer Matt Harding of Where the Hell is Matt? fame. Tech columnist David Pogue hosted the event, which was in a quasi-talk show format with parody songs, slideshows, and enlightening interviews with the You Suck at Photoshop creators and the guy who made the popular Ocarina iPhone app.

The highlight, however, was Matt's interview where he dealt with allegations that his video and resulting fame is all a hoax. I don't want to ruin the ending for you, so you should just watch it from this point on. If you need an introduction to who Matt is and what he has accomplished, though, watch it from the beginning.

Elf Yourself 3: The Legend of Curly's Gold

It's that most wonderful time of the year again, and it's becoming quite the Christmas tradition to Elf Yourself here at work. Once you've seen all five of us doing our classic dance, enjoy the country and charleston versions, and end with my personal favourite, Christmas disco.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards