Web Clips for 9/6/09

Well, I thought I wouldn't do web clips anymore, but there's just so many clippy things and snippets I need to share. I suppose I wont make it a daily thing, but weekly or so shouldn't be too intrusive.

I'll be moving back into college so the next couple of days could get busy. Just fyi.

People can be politically silly on craigslist.

This is flying around, it's pretty awesome:


I added social media links to posts on our feed. Should I add them to the site posts as well? They would look similarly unobtrusive. Would people use them? Let me know in the comments, thanks.

Do you suck at TF2? Get a tutor for free at the TF2 mentor project.

A recent Wikipedia survey found that, of the people who edit Wikipedia, only 13% are women. Though troublesome, I'd attribute a lot of it to the geekiness of editing Wikipedia. The survey also found that of Wikipedia readers, 69% are men and 31% are women, which probably also has a lot to do with it.

Hire the voice of Serious Sam, for just a dollar a word. Be sure to click on the samples on the right there. Badass answering machine, anyone?

Man Vs. Door.

What the fuck? Astro-Rap

So who else has heard about this already? Who else had heard that former astronaut Buzz Aldrin (btw, calling someone a "former astronaut" makes them sound way less cool) is trying to start a rap career? And that Snoop Dogg, Talib Kweli, and Soulja Boy are helping him? Because it's pretty much the funniest thing ever. And no, I'm not making this up at all. It's completely true.

First of all, that beat sounds like it's from the early 90s, at the latest. Then it just gets way funnier when Buzz actually starts rapping. I mean talking. Because that's all he's doing is talking. This just sounds like my grandpa talking. Because that's all it really is. Just someone's grandpa talking. The way he bobs back and forth is so hilarious too. I kind of feel bad making fun of him, but I had no idea it was possible for an astronaut to be so incredibly uncool. Then you have all these women (and apparently one dude) singing "To go flying into outer spa-ace!" We're not even half a minute into the video and I'm already on the floor with laughter. 

The video with Snoop and Talib Kweli on the site I linked to is great too. It's just so funny how in on the joke Snoop and Talib are. Then there are all the wonderful quotes.

"I have only two passions: space exploration and hip hop." - Buzz Aldrin (Although I feel like this could also be a quote from George Clinton)

"People think of hip hop and they think of beefs. We have east coast west coast beef, down south up top beefs, but, it doesn't compare to the beef between earth walkers and moon walkers, which I think is a way more dangerous beef." - Talib Kweli (Although I feel like this could also be a quote from Michael Jackson)

"Buzz Aldrin is so gangsta." - Talib Kweli

And seriously, the main hooky line sounds so much better when Snoop Dogg says it. Also, Buzz said that his intention in doing this rap was to get kids interested in space. Are there any kids anywhere who aren't interested in space? Every kid wants to be an astronaut when they grow up. This will probably turn them against it. "Astronauts can't rap and aren't cool. I don't want to be an astronaut when I grow up."

In all honesty though, it does appear that Buzz is in on the joke. At least, I really, really hope he is.

I know it's a little late, but...

Here's my own way of remembering the king of pop. Rest in peace, Michael Jackson. More in-depth posts from me coming up soon, I promise.

Web Clips for 6/23/09

AWESOME simple website for creating and managing public lists.

If you haven't seen the video of riot police in Tehran running away from the massive crowd of protesters, watch it now. Truly amazing. Also notice that the crowd is THROWING BACK the tear gas grenades.

An F-111C doing a Dump and Burn. What's a dump and burn?

Turn and Face the Strain, and More Web Clips.

Yea, I finally settled on a favicon for our site. I like it, and yes, I made it in MS Paint like a real pro. But that doesn't mean if you send me something I won't take a look at it, and probably use it too.

Also, You may have noticed our tag cloud, and that infamous contact sidebar will be going up shortly, along with probably some other tweaks, and there's a slight chance that I'll change our template. Just a warning.

I watched superbad last night, and was reminded of Seth Rogans early, early stand up, like 13 early.

A really, really long-ass image of people.

Want to cool your PC? Submerge it in mineral oil.

You can do a lot of shit with vodka, besides drinking it.

No pets in the apartment.

And finally, a (long) video preview of Google Wave.

Geeky/Random Web Clippings

Apparently post frequency is the new theme here at The Tartar Sauce. Either that, or I've finally become bored with playing video games 24/7, yet still have nothing to do but update a blog. Anyway, here's some random shit from these here internets:

ZeFrank's Gyro.

Draw online, and share it with others.

Some clever advertising.

stomp-esque web short.

Midomi, a music search engine that lets you sing, hum, or tap the tune to find the music.

Screamin' Beans, if you click one thing here, click this.

Remember when the Zune was a big joke?

And finally, for Pat, a random Alias Generator.

Silly Impromptu Internet Uprisings. Also, Save Chuck!

It seems the fans of geeky, action-comedy series Chuck have taken to bombarding the "News From You" section of NBC (basically the editorial) with Chuck testimonials. NBC has been unclear as to whether or not there will be a third season of Chuck for some time now. The show has gathered a rather large cult following fairly quickly over its first two seasons, and, with the season finale recently released, well, just check out the recent posts:

There are hundreds of pages of this on the site, and I don't think it's going to end soon. If you haven't had a chance to see chuck, I highly reccomend you check it out. The show is really, really good. Very good dialog, funny, addictive (if not a little ridiculous) plot, good action, and quirky characters. If I had to compare it to something I'd say it's like a mix of Burn Notice (which I absolutely love) and The IT Crowd/ Big Bang Theory. If you're already a fan of chuck, why not post a testimonial? It certaintly couldn't hurt. You'll need a myNBC account to do it, but it's fairly straight forward. Anyways, good luck, Chuck!

Piracy Week wrap-up

So Piracy Week is spilling over into next week, because that's how we do it at The Tartar Sauce. We have a few more posts coming up that I'm sure you'll all enjoy. In the meantime, I would like to turn the mic over to the world-renowned MC DP: Don't Copy That Floppy.

Jake's Web Clippings of the Week

Just a few for this week:

A Ziggy Stardust mashup album. Not as good as the Ocarina of Rhyme (or the original Ziggy Stardust, for that matter) but still worth listening to.

More from Microsoft Songsmith: "Hustlin'" by Rick Ross.

The Snickers company is creating their own language. Looks like they forgot to mention Noam Chompsky.

Science is awesome. Various scientists have determined which English words will go extinct soonest, which part of the brain creates religious experiences, and have even begun to read people's minds. Ok, maybe that last part wasn't awesome.

I don't usually do this, but....

I've always been against wasting an entire post on a link to some stupid youtube video. But this is friggin' awesome. Just watch it.

http://thru-you.com/

Geeky/Random Web Clippings (of the week?)

So I might make this sort of thing a habit, provided I actually find enough stuff in these here internets.

An animated image showing the definition of pi.

Space is fun. Oh, yes it is.

A bootable CD that cracks windows passwords using rainbow tables.

An awesome guide to speed reading.

Images that use the text of Obama's victory speech.

John Stewart's famous Crossfire pwnage.

The Best of Songsmith

For those of you who don't know, Microsoft has recently released their own music production software, called Songsmith, in the hopes of competing with Apple's GarageBand. The thing is, Songsmith is really absolutely nothing like GarageBand. While GarageBand is your basic, standard music production software - very limited, but user-friendly and versatile enough for most people's purposes - Songsmith is way, way more limited than GarageBand and way, way less versatile. In fact, it really only does one thing. Granted, that one thing is something that GarageBand can't do. On GarageBand, I've recorded live performances, made mash-ups, constructed samples, remixed pop songs, and manipulated vocal tracks, but I haven't been able to sing into it and get it to automatically create a chord progression for me. That's exactly what Songsmith does. If you sing a melody into it, it automatically harmonizes it with software instruments for you. 

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Whoa! This software is really cool. I can't imagine anything wrong with it!" Well, you're wrong. As with all things that sound too good to be true, there's a catch. And the catch for Microsoft Songsmith is that all the backing tracks it generates are sickeningly cheesy. Like, something a little kid would want to listen to. Like, one of the demos from that $20 keyboard you had when you were 8 years old. Like, something that a pro wrestler who was trying to start a musical career recorded in the 1980s (or in some cases, the 1990s). Need proof? Just watch this ad for Songsmith. It might not make you want to buy the program, but it definitely will make you want to buy glow-in-the-dark towels.

Microsoft Songsmith Commercial

(Don't ask me why they're using a mac in the commercial. I was mislead into thinking this software was available for macs, but my hopes of creating horrible backing tracks to pop songs were crushed). 

As you can tell, this software is intended for people who have absolutely no experience with music performance, production, theory, or even listening. But pop culture junkies with too much time on their hands always recognize a good opportunity when they see one (just look at this blog for proof of that). A bunch of people have created videos on youtube where they put an acapella vocal track for a famous pop song into Songsmith and see what it generates for a backing track. The results are stunning, and here I present you with the cream of the crop:

1. Nirvana - In Bloom

Apparently, the music video for "In Bloom," the second song from Nirvana's famous album Nevermind, parodied old music shows from the 50s, and the backing track that Songsmith generated for "In Bloom" matches the 50s aesthetic perfectly. But it also does so much more. First of all, it had a hard time syncing the vocals to the backing track, so at times the vocals don't match the rhythm at all. Secondly, it shows you what a truly terrible singer Kurt Cobain was (Nirvana fans, don't pretend like you don't know it's true). With the wall of drums and distorted guitar stripped away, Kurt Cobain's voice is loud, clear, and painful.

2. Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger

This is one of the only instances in which the Songsmith backing track actually makes the vocals sound different. Songsmith generated a laid back, melancholy, Eagles-style backing track for "Eye of the Tiger," and it gives the lyrics entirely new meaning. When the lead singer declares, "Did my time, took my chances," and "Just a man and his will to survive," it sounds as if he's sitting somewhere, reminiscing about the days when he could have been great. Hmm... that sounds an awful lot like what the lead singer of Survivor is probably doing right now. Maybe Songsmith has the power to reveal hidden truths about songs... Let's watch another video to find out.

3. Oasis - Wonderwall

I take it back. Apparently, when Songsmith heard the angsty ballad "Wonderwall," it assumed that the vocals were meant to be played over happy hardcore. But is that really a bad thing? I'll just say that while I'm not a huge fan of Oasis, or angsty bands in general, if this version of "Wonderwall" came on at a rave, or while I was playing DDR, I'd probably dance to it.

If you liked that one, be sure to check out this ravealicious rendition of "Tom Sawyer" by Rush.

4. Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

All aboard the polka train!!!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!

Ever wonder what "Crazy Train" would sound like as a polka? Well now you can find out. Need I say more?

For a similar delight, listen to this bluegrass rendition of "White Wedding" by Billy Idol.

5. Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Apparently, at one point Marvin Gaye was backed by a bunch of teenagers from the 90s.

6. The Police - Roxanne

Songsmith wisely chose to give "Roxanne" a Caribbean feel. Why wisely? Well, The Police became famous for shamelessly appropriating reggae, so calypso is just the next logical step, right?

Actually, I think that Songsmith butchered "Roxanne" more than any other one on here. Unlike all the other ones that I've mentioned (except for "Heard it Through the Grapevine"), "Roxanne" was a pretty good song to begin with, but that's only because Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are both incredible musicians. When Songsmith took them away, they left us with the wannabe-Jamaican asshole Sting and what sounds like the house band for a Disney cruise ship.

7. Van Halen - Runnin' With The Devil

This is by far the best one on the list. Songsmith obviously hated David Lee Roth (rightly so), so they chose to have a lounge band back him. This rendition sounds like... well... David Lee Roth being backed by a lounge band. I really can't think of a funnier way to describe it. Just think of the loudest, most testosterone-filled lead singer in the entire genre of hair-metal being backed by a swingin' lounge band, and you have the idea. Or better yet, just watch the video. I promise you that by 0:45, you'll be on the floor with laughter.

So there you have it. I urge everyone who has Windows and loves destroying pop songs to immediately download the trial version of Songsmith and a bunch of acapella tracks and immediately post your creations to youtube.

More Various Geeky Web Clippiings

Here's a great post on The Escapist forums talking about cartoons, in particular the short film "Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue." A film about a whole ton of cartoon characters joining forces against the evils of drugs. The film, ironically, gets pretty trippy. And of course the ever popular huge list of things that have happened since Duke Nukem Forever was first anounced. Crazy Japanese people playing the mario theme with an rc car and bottles filled with water. "I Spy" In Hell from McSweeneys. Slow motion bullet Photographs. The smallest 3d video game ever coded to date (only 96k!!), hit the download link, unzip and double click the .exe file, windows only. And finally, your next Halloween costume. There, enough? Happy? So bugger off!