Tag: Friday fun Page 1 of 3

I know this post is a day late…but I got busy and forgot I had some good stuff to show you. Good weekend fun too, so I don’t think you’ll mind it a day late.

Two items for your perusal this week.

The 100-year-old blog

Like me, you probably thought that weblogs (or blogs) were a relatively new phenomenon. Well, think again. OK, I’m kidding. But suppose for a minute that social media tools were around back at the turn of the last century (the 20th, I mean.) This blog will show you what I mean. There are a lot of interesting photos, some that will make you smile, some that are chilling. But they’re all interesting.

Here’s the link. You’ll see what I mean.

Running the numbers

This guy makes big, big pictures. I can only imagine what they’d look like if we could see them live…but it’s when you look closer that you realize just how much of an impact they’re making. These large prints are made up of thousands of smaller photos and they’re designed to make a statement about consumption.

It’s a powerful and compelling story.

Here’s the link.

Next week, I’ll try to make my Friday deadline. Enjoy.

This week, a selection of landscape photography photos that are simply spectacular. They are the kind of pictures that most of us only dream of creating.

Here’s the link to the website.

Enjoy.

I’ve got a mixed bag of entertainment this Friday. There’s an interactive segment involving a dog and typing; a bit of a how-to (although I doubt you can); an imaginative video using Flash; and a quiz to test your intellect. Oh…and a gratuitous guitar video (just because).

Like I said, it’s a mixed bag, but hey — it’s almost the weekend, right?

Here we go…

I do dog tricks

This is the interactive part. Click this link and you’ll figure out what’s required. Can anyone say “precious?”

How to create a 3-D sidewalk image

I’ve linked to some previous videos about 3-D sidewalk artists (here’s one of my posts) and I think I’ve seen the one that’s the subject of this video before. But this is a video about how the piece was made. It’s fascinating to see the care that goes into creating the illusion of depth using a 2-D picture. It’s kind of long, but interesting.

Here’s the link to the video.

Get the beat

It’s not a guitar video, but it goes well with one. An imaginative use of Flash animation and a catchy beat.

Watch the video here.

Did I mention there would be a quiz?

Do you like challenges? I found another on-line science quiz from the BBC. This is a hard one — at least I didn’t do that well. Surprising how often the right answer is not what you expected.

Take the quiz yourself here.

And finally, the gratuitous Guitar Video

It’s been awhile since I’ve put up a guitar video. Here’s one from the Sydney Opera House. This guy is a 12-string virtuoso.

Here’s the link to the video.

Enjoy!

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Friday fun

Do you have paraskavedekatriaphobia?

Don’t know? Well, if you have ever heard of the word, then you probably know it’s a fear of Friday the 13th. So, in honour of today, here’s a link to an article on Wikipedia that explains just what all the fuss is about this day.

Before the 19th century, though the number 13 was considered unlucky, and Friday was considered unlucky, there was no link between them. The first documented mention of a “Friday the 13th” is generally listed as occurring in the early 1900s.

However, documentation aside, many popular stories exist about the origin of the concept:

* The Last Supper, with stories that Judas was the thirteenth guest, and that the Crucifixion of Jesus occurred Friday.
* That the biblical Eve offered the fruit to Adam on a Friday, and that the slaying of Abel happened on a Friday (though the Bible does not identify the days of the week when these events occurred).
* That it started on Friday, October 13, 1307, the date that many Knights Templar were simultaneously arrested in France, by agents of King Philip IV.

However, historically, there is no true date that the Friday the 13th superstition can be linked to.

There’s lots more interesting stuff in the article, such as that there are more traffic accidents on a Friday the 13th (at least in Britain) and of course, there’s the regular biker run to Port Dover, ON, that occurs every time a Friday the 13th rolls around.

There are also links to other sites and articles about the day. So if you’re interested, give it a read.

One more thing

Since this day is a bit spooky, I’ve got a little exercise for you that seems a bit spooky as well. Just go ahead and follow the directions when you get to this site and you’ll see what I mean.

If you can figure out what’s going on, let us know in the comments, please. I suspect I’ve figured it out (actually, my daughter, Jaime, did) but I want to see whether others agree with her.

Here’s the link.

Enjoy.

Sometimes you just need a hug

The weekend’s almost here and it’s been a tough week in the blogosphere. So I thought it would be nice to see something that makes you feel good about stuff. And I found it.

Le me introduce you to FreeHugsCampaign.org, the official home of the Free Hugs Campaign. You might have heard about this already. It was started by a guy from Australia who just wanted to give people a hug.

Sometimes, a hug is all what we need.

Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.

In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.

In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person…

It’s turned into quite the movement.

Go ahead and watch the video on the site…then tell me that you’re not feeling better about things.

Who ever heard of a funny economist?

Well…it happens.

I came across this video on YouTube that fits my idea of Friday fun.

It’s very, very funny.

I wish my professors at University could deliver lectures like this!

To watch the video click on the image below, or follow this link to YouTube.

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Friday fun

What’s the big hairy deal about this?

Ever wanted to send a message to someone, but you didn’t want it to get lost in all those other messages that fill up peoples’ inboxes?

Well, I can’t guarantee that your recipient will read this message, but if they do open it, you’ll certainly get their attention.

Welcome to Hairy Mail, the world’s first (and – I’m sure – only) web-based, back-hair messaging system.

This is one of the strangest little messaging apps I’ve seen on the Web.

It’s a little bit creepy — but mostly pretty funny. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

And just in case you’re wondering, there is a bigger campaign behind it. You’ll see what I mean when you follow the link below.

Here’s the link. Just go ahead and look, it won’t hurt.

Prepare to be impressed

I’ve always been fascinated by savants, but while I watched Rainman and I’ve seen the odd documentary on TV, I never delved into the topic further.

Then I saw this post on Boing Boing. It linked to some video from CBS’s 60 Minutes featuring a story on Daniel Tammet. He’s a UK savant believed to be the first ever who does not suffer any obvious disabilities (such as autism, deafness, blindness, etc.)

The clips from the show are fascinating. Here’s the link.

And here’s a link to a 50-minute video about Tammet on Google Video.

There were other links to previous Boing Boing articles about savants as well, including:

— Profile of Tammet in The Guardian Link

— Gilles Tréhin, a savant and his imaginary city Link

— Stephen Wiltshire — The “Human Camera” — draws Rome after flyover Link

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Friday fun

Photography — specifically cool pictures — is the theme for this week. And I’ve also thrown in a video that seems particularly apt, since Roxy, our Golden retriever, had surgery this week.

First, the video. Ever wonder what Olivia Newton-John has been doing since she finished the movie version of Grease? Well…now you know! Click the video below or use this link to find out.

Now, for the photos…feel free to branch off from any of these sites for lots more interesting stuff.

For a Prairie boy like me, there’s nothing like a good storm photo to bring back memories of home. But I’ve rarely seen storms like these ones!

And here’s something that I’ve often wished I’d done with our family. What a treasured keepsake this website will become. And in the meantime, what an interesting thing for us to look at.

And finally, check out this photo of Toronto. Try to figure out why you’re looking at it. (HINT: Move your cursor from one side to the other…)

So what do you think? have you got any cool photo sites to share?

I’m going to be attending Northern Voice, a blogger’s conference in Vancouver, this Friday and Saturday, so I may or may not be putting up some posts over the weekend.

But I couldn’t resist posting this great video for our Friday fun piece, especially because I’ve been on a bit of a customer service kick this week.

You might think that the concept of the “Help Desk” is relatively new and only started with the advent of computers in the workplace. But as you’ll see, it’s got a much older pedigree. Once thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the basic question “How does this thing work?”

Unfortunately, the video that I was going to point you to has been pulled from YouTube, so I’ll show you the original version, which is in Norwegian. If you understand it, great. If not, you’ll still get the gist of it. But the English subtitles on the other one were nice.

The gist of the video is that the one guy can’t figure out how to get his book open. Then he’s worried about whether he’ll lose the text inside if he closes it. Etc. Fortunately, the help desk guy is able to show him how things work.

Watch the video by clicking on the picture below, or use this link.