Kinda disturbing. Definitely cool.
[Via Gizmodo]
Category Archives: Video
Giant robot arm learns how to flip pancakes
Engineers from the Italian Institute of Technology have taught a robot how to flip pancakes. There’s nothing more rewarding than laughing at a robot’s failings!
After 50 trials, the robot learns that the first part of the task requires a stiff behavior to throw the pancake in the air, while the second part requires the hand to be compliant in order to catch the pancake without having it bounced off the pan.
[Via Engadget]
Look at architecture through a different lens
Scintillation, by Xavier Chassaing.
Combining 35,000 photographs, stop-motion, and live projection mapping techniques, Chassaing takes us on a semi-trippy adventure through architecture and nature.
[Via Motionographer]
A montage of every video games console, like ever
Sit back, relax, and let the nostalgia sink in.
[Via Gizmodo]
Music video: Eminem: “Love the Way You Lie” (Featuring Rihanna) (w/ Dominic Monaghan & Megan Fox!)
Before tonight’s episode of The Jersey Shore, MTV premiered the music video for Eminem’s chart-topping single “Love the Way You Lie.” Not only does it include Eminem spitting his game and Rihanna belting out the catchy hook, but Charlie from Lost and the hot chick from Transformers lend their acting chops to the powerful lyrics. Domestic violence is the theme, something that Eminem and Rihanna have experienced in their own personal lives. Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox make for an attractive couple in an over-the-top love/hate relationship. One second punches are thrown and in the next lips and tongues are interlocking. It all plays out very theatrically and I commend the effort put into it. Check out the music video above and share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Kanye West’s “Power”: “it’s not a video…it’s a painting”
Tonight MTV premiered the music video painting for Kanye West’s new single “Power.” Kanye started to hype the one minute forty-three second video/painting hybrid yesterday on his blog and Twitter account. He constantly made sure to specifiy that the final product would not be a music video but instead a “painting”. The video begins with a close-up of Kanye’s face with two lines of parallel pillars behind him. As the track plays, the camera slowly pans outward to reveal scantily-clad women donning horns, canes, and wings. Almost immediately you realize that this is not a traditional music video but instead a slow moving painting taking place in the clouds among angels and demons. After only one verse the video draws to its conclusion when the camera starts to sporatically dart around the scene. Then the mystical creatures disappear, two men fly through the air with swords aimed for Kanye’s head (and another one dangling above him through a halo ring), and the letters P-O-W-E-R filled with images from the video take over the screen.
Artist Marco Brambilla directed the video; he successfully invokes Michelangelo’s frescos in the Sistine Chapel, his source for inspiration, by placing historical characters and creatures in the neoclassical scenery. Kanye approaced Brambilla after watching his tremendous specticle “Civilization.” Click here for a brief behind-the-scenes look at the making of the “Power” video. (NSFW warning: It does contain minor instances of nudity.)
I have one word to describe what Kanye has done here: interesting. It’s definitely a bold risk for a music video for two obvious reasons. One, it’s not really a music video, it’s a “painting”; and two, it does not encompass the entire song. That said, the art direction is spectacular and the featured goddesses are a nice treat. I also like the way it was filmed; the slow panning, the quick darting shots, and the awesome illusion on the eyes that made it look like Kanye was moving ever-so-slightly towards us all made for a high value viewing. I am disappointed that “Power” will not be getting a standard music video that it so rightfully deserves. I’d almost rather purchase an enlarged poster of this living portrait than watch it in video form. But this is what Kanye wanted, and Kanye gets what Kanye wants. Unconventional as it may be, the “painting” proves to be stylistically impressive and easy on the eyes.
P.S. – That poster idea got me thinking. Watch the video in HD, take a screen cap of your favorite part, and now you have an groovy background image for your computer. You’re welcome. Continue reading Kanye West’s “Power”: “it’s not a video…it’s a painting”
Trailer: Jackass 3D
The Jackass gang is back, this time in EYE-POPPING 3D. Get ready to see some foul and painful stunts like you’ve never witnessed them before when Jackass 3D hits theatres October 15, 2010.
[Thanks, Corey Z.]
Joaquin Phoenix’s crazy tale set to hit theatres September 10 [Update: trailer posted]
Remember when Joaquin Phoenix grew a filthy beard, stopped going to the barber, and decided to quit acting to become a rapper and act like a total idiot (much to our amusement) on Letterman? Well all of that insanity will culminate in the upcoming (mock?)-umentary film titled I’m Still Here. Magnolia Pictures recently outed the official poster for the Casey Affleck-directed movie (see above) and it’s been confirmed that it will release wide on September 10. The press release describes the movie as “sometimes funny, sometimes shocking and always riveting, the film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads. Defying expectations, it deftly explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.” Are you willing to pay money to find out what exactly happened to Phoenix during his tumultuous days as an actor-turned-hip-hop artist? Was he for real or was it all just a hoax for a social experiment?
Update: Theatrical trailer posted after the break.
[Via Moviefone; EW-HollywoodInsider] Continue reading Joaquin Phoenix’s crazy tale set to hit theatres September 10 [Update: trailer posted]
The Avengers teaser from Comic Con is released unto the masses
Yeah it’s not much but at least it’s something. Marvel, upload a clean HD version of the 5 minute Thor trailer from the Con and we’ll all be so happy.
RIM formally details new BlackBerry 6 OS
When Research In Motion (RIM), the makers of BlackBerry smartphones, officially unveiled the latest BlackBerry operating system in late April at WES they failed to properly go into much detail about it. We were teased with a brief (music) video demonstration and that was about it. On Tuesday the company finally revealed in full detail the next iteration of its OS dubbed BlackBerry 6. I’ll run down the most prominent new features. A newly designed home screen allows for customization and arrangement of icons, contacts, and web page shortcuts; context-sensitive Action Menus allows “users [to] bring the most common actions or tasks of an application to the surface”; a Universal Search tool allows you to search keywords that will ping all the phone’s content, the web, and the new BlackBerry App World; an all-new Webkit browser features tabbed browsing, auto-wrap text zoom, pinch-to-zoom, and supports HTML5 content; Social Feeds integrate access to BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger applications, allowing you to view all your friends’ actitivies in one space; it also allows you to “post updates across multiple networks simultaneously”.
The new multimedia experience in BB6 packs a really exciting new feature–the ability to sync your music collection over WiFi. Using BlackBerry Desktop Software 6, you can enable Wi-Fi Music Sync “that allows users to view their entire iTunes or Windows Media Player music libraries from their BlackBerry smartphone, create and edit playlists, as well as select music for download.” As long as you’re in range of your WiFi signal, playlist edits and song information are automatically synced to the phone.
The OS also includes new camera modes and a Podcasts application that allows you to manage audio and video podcasts. A dedicated YouTube app is included, too. All of these new and updated features comprise BlackBerry 6. Consumers will have the chance to get their hands on it August 26 with the launch of BlackBerry Torch, the first BB to come loaded with the new OS. According to RIM, BB6 will be ported to the BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry Bold 9650, and BlackBerry Pearl 3G “subject to carrier certifications in the months ahead.”
Overall BlackBerry 6 is a welcome and much needed refresh to the aging BlackBerry UI. The most exciting update is the system-wide multi-touch experience. The Storm and Storm 2 smartphones did pack capacitive touchscreens, but BB6-supported phones will be designed around the multi-touch experience consumers are used to finding in devices like Apple’s iPhone and Motorola’s Droid. A new Webkit browser will definitely wow users with its speed and future-proof support for HTML5. The new social networking features also look promising. As exciting as all of these new additions to the BlackBerry platform may sound, almost all of them have already been implemented in other smartphones for years. With BB6 RIM is essentially playing catch up with the big players (ie. Apple, Google). RIM has failed to incorporate that extra pinch of bam that separates itself from the competition. While BB6 definitely pushes BlackBerry devices closer to the competition in terms of features and aesthetics, it does not give cell phone buyers a definitive reason to choose this OS over another one. BBM’s sheen can only last so long.
Look after the break for the full PR plus a “sneak peak” video.
[Via Engadget; Gizmodo] Continue reading RIM formally details new BlackBerry 6 OS
BlackBerry Torch slider QWERTY smartphone runs BlackBerry 6, hits AT&T August 12 for $199.99
On Tuesday RIM and AT&T formally announced the latest BlackBerry handset and it’s called the BlackBerry Torch. It’s BB’s first slider smartphone, and it comes with a full QWERTY keyboard BB users are accustomed to. Let’s run through the specs, shall we? The Torch packs a 3.2″ (360 x 480) capacitive touch screen display, 5.0MP camera with flash, auto focus, image stabilization and geo-tagging, built-in GPS and 802.11n WiFi, quadband 3G radio, and 512MB of Flash memory with 4GB on-board and a microSD/SDHC memory card slot for additional storage (up to 32GB supported). It measures 4.4″ x 2.4″ x 0.57″ when closed and 5.8″ x 2.4″ x 0.57″ when the slider keyboard is out. Face buttons include start/end calls, main menu, back, and an optical trackpad. The Torch will be the very first BB to run the just detailed BlackBerry 6 operating system. This means it will include the fast Webkit browser (for which it was named after–RIM recently bought a company named Torch Mobile), integrated social feeds, a new multimedia experience, and universal search. The phone will be made available to purchase on August 12 for $199.99 on a new two-year contract with AT&T at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, RadioShack, and AT&T stores.
The brand new form factor is extremely compelling. It’s the new OS, which seems to be following the pack and not making its own strides, that I am worried about. Look in the gallery below for press shots and after the break for the PR and two “launch videos”.
[Via Engadget]
Music video: Linkin Park – “The Catalyst”
After a three year absence Linkin Park is back. Their fourth studio album A Thousand Suns drops on September 14. The first single off the album is called “The Catalyst”. The band decided to take a non-traditional route in promoting the track in collaboration with the upcoming video game Medal of Honor. The video, directed by Linkin Park’s Joe Hahn, mashes together live and gameplay combat footage; the result is pretty stellar.
[Via EW-MusicMix]