Jake of the Web

A stop-Motion video of 'Making Pasta' using Pick-Up Sticks to represent spaghetti, dice as the sugar, post-it notes as butter, a ball of yarn as parmesan cheese and a kaliedescope as the peper grinder, a very cool and very surreal little experience.



Recommended by Jason Rushton

Much like the previously mention F My Life and Texts From Last Night, except 'It Made My Day' is happy things - or at least bad things happening to other people:

"Last night, the light bulb in the bedroom went out, but instead of changing it, my husband just lit candles. IMMD."

"Last week I went to see Transformers 2, and it was so bad I walked out after twenty minutes and demanded my money back. I took the money and went to Target and bought an Optimus Prime action figure like I had as a kid. IMMD."

"I called my grandma to find out how long until left-over chicken goes bad, she told me to Google it. IMMD."

"I was sitting in a boring, 90 degree meeting room, and my co-worker pulled out a pocket knife and spent the meeting turning his loafers into open-toed sandals. IMMD."

"Yesterday I had sex, ate breakfast, saw a movie, and had sex again (same girl) all while my roommate only played World of Warcraft. IMMD."

"Today someone stole my wallet. There was $50 inside. I’m just checking this website to see if it made anyone’s day."

"My wife bought me a horrible watch for our anniversary because she didn’t like the one I was wearing. She insisted I wear it and when I finally did today, I got mugged. They only took the watch. IMMD."

http://itmademyday.com/

Recommended by Pete

Involving WAY more effort than it's worth, this site provides recipes who basic ingredients are food items from fast food restaurants. When you're done, no one will know it came from McDonald's! A lot of it entails blending the original food in a food processor and re-shaping it into something else - like making pasta using the bread you get at Subway.

Turn This:

Into 7-11 Fondue (using hot dogs and 7-11 nacho cheese, amongst other items):


Turn this Baconator combo:

Into this fancy Baconator combo with a Coke/ketchup reduction as a complimentary sauce:

Turn these hot dogs:

Into "Faux Foie Gras":

http://www.fancyfastfood.com/

Turn your own handwriting into a font you can use on your computer for free.

http://www.fontcapture.com/

Recommended by Marcus J

Be your own Ben Stein and push this button any time you want to find where Bueller is.




http://instantbueller.com/

Recommended by Pete

As the Obamas pose with members of the U.N., President Obama is startlingly, frighteningly in the same pose with the same expression in every frame. For added fun, watch the first lady try and creep more and more into the picture from the left, only to pop back out of frame when she sees you looking at her.

I like this better than the similar Paris Hilton video because the location, angle and clothing are identical. This simultaneously lets Obama somewhat off the hook as well as makes for a better video.

Recommended by Andy Wilson

Barack Obama's amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

This is pretty funny. The first draft of Star Wars, apparently, was written by environmentalist. I am particularly fond of the splintered environmentalist groups - none able to agree with the other, even though they're supposedly on the same side. And the vegan cream pie attack.



As funny as this is, this guy is a serious environmentalist: endciv.com - a little too serious for my taste.

For anyone on ony other carrier, 3G is old news. My only complaint about T-Mobile (or my Android-based G1, for that matter) has been the lack of 3G in my locale.
Only in the last hour have my coworker and I received the beautiful sight of '3G' instead of that cursed 'E' over our data status icon.

I actually think John Mayer is a very, very good guitarist - it's just that his guitar playing has little to do with his fame.

Don't let the simplicity fool you! In a computer animation style reminiscent of Dire Straits' Money For Nothing, these folks have created a music video for The Beatles' song Come Together. Considering how much solid color and simple characters this video contains, I have to say I seriously enjoyed the video. From John Lennon's smile to the go cart segment of the video, I found myself smiling and laughing the whole time.

Instead of taking an old story and remaking it with new actors, this guy has decided to take old actors - using old movie footage - and tell a (relatively) new story. Forrest Gump, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Ghost Busters have been done so far. I'd have to say my favorite is Raiders of the Lost Ark, starring Charlton Heston as Indiana Jones.





http://www.youtube.com/user/whoiseyevan

A running tally of CO2 emissions, Deaths and Births. It even keeps track of how many have taken place since you began watching. It's enough to make a person stop having kids and hold their breath.


http://www.breathingearth.net/

Recommended by Timothy Nielsen

A Rube Golberg machine that is moved along without any two parts of the machine ever touching one another (OK, just once). Many proximity devices (think proximity badge access to a secure building), some cell phones, a small fan and a paper airplane, motion detectors, light sensors and magnets all play a role.

Nearness from timo on Vimeo.

Although there are lots of games to play on 'The Pinball Zone", in truth, I've only spent time playing one: DEMOLITION CITY! Given an I-beam structure and a set number of dynamite charges, you must demolish the building within a set time and with a limited height allowance for your rubble pile.


Place the dynamite charges.

Dotonate.
Watch it all (hopefully) come down. Not every detonation successfully collapses the structure.
http://www.thepinballzone.net/playGame.php?id=557

http://thepinballzone.net/

Recommended by JT Mackenzie

In what is quite possibly the dumbest website ever, these folks have spent the better part of two weeks so far posting pictures of women (all more or less good looking, but not 'hot', per se) either stooping to pick up, actually picking up, or carrying in a bag, the fecal matter left by canines. I can't believe they've made it this long.

This doesn't get a picture.

http://hotchickspickingupdogshit.com/

Apple Game: Catch as many apples out of the 100 that drop.



http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g2/applegame.htm

Recommended by Kaily Fairbanks

But that doesn't mean Coldplay "won". Many people watching the case feel that Satriani had a valid case and that Coldplay likely settled with Satriani out of court. This ruling, however, allows Coldplay to maintain they performed no wrongdoing.

My main concern is that, as the less well-known of the two artists, Satriani will face a backlash or an uprising against him, much like Metallica has since the days of Metallica vs. Napster (language in that link is NSFW). I still know people who will not buy a Metallica album to this day because of their "money grubbing" ways).

What is more likely to happen, however, is a lot of people who otherwise never would have heard of Satriani will find he is an amazing guitarist and a talented musician overall, hopefully increasing his popular exposure - since I have a feeling that existing Satriani fans will not turn against him in the light of this lawsuit.





An interesting element to this case is the specter of another possible lawsuit from Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) for infringement by Coldplay on his song Foreigner Suite.

The miracle toaster! Guaranteed to make a miracle piece of toast every time!

Elmo teaches kids to yell out inappropriate words.

Slide Dog!
An adorable video of yet another French Bulldog living in Japan.

Ball Droppings
A fun little audio/visual timewaster.

"Look At This F*cking Hipster"
Lots and lots of pictures of people working really really really hard to make themselves unattractive. I'm pretty sure Kanye West was involved with this horrific fashion development.



The UK Google Maps Alphabet. Letters formed in roads, buildings, and other things as seen from above.


Animals with Lightsabers:
Photoshopped images and sometimes manipulated video demonstrating animals long-time knowledge of the light saber. I am particularly fond of the light-saber-horned antelope.

Definitely a lots of NSFW language and potentially NSFW images, so be careful.

Lots and lots of pictures of people working really really really hard to make themselves unattractive, who also think they are cool. I'm pretty sure Kanye West was involved with this horrific fashion development.

Handlebar mustaches (and just mustaches in general)








Enough Babst Blue Ribbon to kill a person




Any chunky, unattractive pair of glasses (or just the frames will do) these people can get their hands on.





Steps shaved into a beard!



Skinny jeans and overall androgyny wherever possible.




http://www.latfh.com/

A French Bulldog (possibly related to this previously-mentioned French Bulldog puppy) living in Japan loves to go down a bumpy playground slide on his side. I'm sure it's just like a massage for him. It's always fun to see cute animals.



Recommended by Kerry

Because what's more healthy than yelling "Pee Pee!" in public?

For extra weird-factor... imagine these little kids are old, old, old people saying the same things.

We've already discussed the concept of zombie-destroying lego vehicles. To my great pleasure, the Flickr group LUGNuts, dedicated to building and sharing their Lego-vehicle creations has initiated a zombie-killing vehicle contest. This has brought forth a bumper-crop of zombie-proof mayhem.

Here are a few of my favorites:


Garbage Truck





Nondescript Killing Machines



Urban Assault Vehicle



'Zombine Harvester'

All entries can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/503531@N24/discuss/72157622078861023/

Previously: Post-apocalyptic Lego Zombies!

Mythbusters: Does anybody have a better job than these guys? After testing a 30,000 'match head bomb' to be certain the principle is sound, they are dared to make a bomb out of 1,000,000 match heads, which of course they do. Money shot is at 4:00.

These have apparently been around for a few years, but this is the first time I've seen them. These are intended for use as book covers, but clearly can be used for any purpose that utilizes the art inherent within, and allows you to enjoy them.

Some are Clone Wars style, which is well and good, but there's something that I really like about the other, more 'cutesy' design choices.






Even more like this are available here.

This toaster guarantees a miracle every time you make toast. Each slice will renew your faith as you smile down at the image of the Virgin Mary on your toast.


More specific than this USB toaster, and not as confusing as this miracle, I'd say this toaster has hit the toasty sweet spot of a crisp brown outside and chewy center.

http://www.lukejerram.com/projects/miracle_toaster

Placed alone in a room with a single marshmallow, these kids are told they can have an additional marshmallow - but only if they wait for the supervising adult to return before they eat the marshmallow in front of them. How many kids do you know that could hold out?

I love the expression at 2:50.

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

After a while you start to forget that each pixel in this animation is a piece of paper stuck to a wall. Very well done.

This should have been done years ago. But, nature abhors a vacuum, so it was bound to happen sooner or later: a collection of animals holding lightsabers.


Extra points for the animals in question being adorable.

















http://www.animalswithlightsabers.com/

Thanks to John Porter for the link!

Are you man enough for this car? Forged by ninjas in the distant mountains of Japan? This is my nominee for best car ad ever.

An excerpt:

"This sexy brute comes with the things us testosterone-fueled super action junkies need. It has a 255 HP rotary engine to outrun the cops. It has special blood / gore resistant tan leather upholstery. It even has a first-aid kit in the back. You know what the first aid kit has in it? A pint of whiskey, a stitch-your-own-wound kit and a hunk of leather to bite down on when you are operating on yourself."




Thanks to James Snyder for the link!

My last post, The Graphical Representation of Beethoven's 5th, reminded me of this old album track from the brilliant PDQ Bach/Peter Schickele where he's created a football-like Play-by-Play of a symphony.

This gives me an idea of how much better Beethoven was than me - if his brain could 'hear' this music before it was ever performed, he's got me beat.

This is a cool Chrome Experiment where you can drag and drop lines across the screen that will interact with balls that are dropped from above. The lines will impede and deflect the balls progress, so creating a series of these lines causes the balls to bounce betwixt many of the lines. They make a pleasant, almost steel drum-like sound when they bounce.


http://balldroppings.com/js/

Recommended by Dick Clark

I think I love this song a little too much.



Recommended by Emily Johnson

More Disney/Marvel Mashups
Some dark but very cool conceptual art depicting potential changes to Disney princesses in light of the recent acquisition by Disney of Marvel.


Canabalt
Don't Fall! Don't get ground to bits!


Museum of Animal Perspectives. See life through the eyes of an animal. In this case, an armadillo.


Chalk Game - Very cool game that makes me hate dry erase markers.


http://www.insanewiches.com/
Sandwich Sculptures!



Puppy Is Stuck!
An adorable French Bulldog puppy is stuck on his back and can't figure out how to get on his feet.