Youtube

If a meteor were spotted tomorrow hurtling towards the Earth, you could bet that some shirtless Mike Sorrentino clone would spend his final minutes lip-syncing Rihanna in an attempt to rake up hits before impact.

As astronauts snapped the glowing explosion with their mobiles, old people made out on the beach and random 17-year-olds concluded their wedding vows, he would grin triumphantly. “At least I’m famous,” he would say as the television turned to static and the chanting began.

At any given moment, millions of people are sprinting toward fame, with no clue as to what they’ll do if and when they finally grasp it. Encouraged by the handful of well-publicised success stories, they cheerfully upload their auto-tuned vocals, tear-streaked rants and subway dance routines.

Continue reading "Festival of Obvious Ideas #8: We can’t all be famous" »

Of all the things I’ve lost online, I miss my mind the most. On Friday I forgot a friend’s name for almost a minute. And this was an actual, real friend. Someone who’d been a guest at my house.

After a little Wiki work and web MDing on my phone I come to the conclusion that I probably had early onset dementia. The next day I mentioned my ailment to one of my friends - whose name I can recall because I see it every day in my Twitter feed (@juzzycullen). She told me she had the same problem and we agreed it was unlikely that we both had dementia.

We decided it less likely we’re suffering a digital-age DDoS attack on out brains. A personal Future Shock if you like.

Continue reading "HELP! I lost my mind online" »

It’s instructive to go back to the Kevin07 campaign advertisements, not least because the man himself seemed so confident and so damned chirpy.

The ads underline the fact it wasn’t long ago that many voters were prepared to place their trust in the abilities of the Labor Party.

Nielsen polling released Monday found Kevin Rudd was preferred leader of the Labor Party, 55 per cent to incumbent Julia Gillard’s 38 per cent. It was more a comment on Ms Gillard than a sign the mob wanted Kevin back, but the comparison was stark.

Even as Foreign Minister - even though he seems rarely in the country - Rudd retains the ability to connect that he mobilised so devastatingly against John Howard in 2007.

Continue reading "Video killed the Ruddio star" »

My brother once wore Ziggy Stardust Bowie make-up to school in year 10 to show his devotion to the great man, but this kid is going to turn into some kinda super stalker fan by the age of 10.

Personally I’m kinda torn on this video because I find eccentric music tastes of children very entertaining, but I also find yuppie parents who only play their kids hipster music very annoying. You can also see the mum manufacturing this thing for a youtube download when she starts asking the child how old he is.

Anyway, ultimately you have to come down on the side of the child that David Bowie is preferable to the other options before him, especially Nick Cave.

(Warning contains screeching of young child)

[Video removed at copyright holder request, 30/11/2011]

It’s been almost a week since he left the country. Quarantine has again been established. As racing heartbeats slow and those who lost consciousness reawaken, the Bieber Fever epidemic that swept the nation is fast becoming nothing but a painful memory.

For most of us, who hadn’t even heard of Justin before last week, headlines during his visit were confusing. Who the hell is this child on the cover of every newspaper? More to the point, why is Slash offering to take him to a titty bar? Does he need a feed? Is Slash going to burp him afterwards?

You might be surprised, or possibly more confused, to learn that Justin’s rise to fame occurred as a result of Youtube. Three years ago the cherub-faced twelve year-old posted a video of him singing at a local talent quest.

Continue reading "Meet the Aussie Bieber, and his YouTube stage mother" »

The boys and girls I was filming on the beach were mostly pre-teens.

Where are you going to show it? a girl asked. ” On You Tube” I replied.  The kids screamed so loudly with delight the sound on my camera distorted.

I didnt have permission from these kids parents to film them but it was not until the following day that it occurred to me that this might be a problem.

Continue reading "When should images of children be put on the net?" »

So, as much as I hate admitting it, I’m the kind of guy who watches DVDs with the audio commentary on.

Turns out, some audio commentaries are actually pretty interesting if you’re into that kind of stuff, and I thought I’d share with you something I picked up when watching an episode of Family Guy the other day.

Seth MacFarlane, producer and actor on the show, stated that Family Guy was one of the first television series to reference an internet joke, something which had never before been done on a mainstream medium.

Continue reading "What do medicated kids and Rick Astley have in common?" »