challenged confessions

Verbing

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:39:09 -0700

Check out this Rosy-Lipped Batfish. Besides the obvious lips,...

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:45:00 -0700

Check out this Rosy-Lipped Batfish. Besides the obvious lips, it even has facial hair! Plus, to make it even weirder, it doesn’t so much swim as it uses its ‘fins’ to crawl around. Click-through for much larger.

Terrible pun but I love that dog. (from b3ta, click for bigger)...

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:16:00 -0700

Terrible pun but I love that dog. (from b3ta, click for bigger)

Clever/nerdy graffiti

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:31:57 -0700

Clever/nerdy graffiti

pictures for sad children “the internet is just as bad. it...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:38:14 -0700

pictures for sad children

“the internet is just as bad. it connects awful people to each other so they can feel better about how awful they are.”

"No matter how much you think you love somebody, you’ll step back when the pool of their blood edges..."

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:31:12 -0700

“No matter how much you think you love somebody, you’ll step back when the pool of their blood edges up too close.”

- Chuck Palahniuk (via riotrepublic)

I love this picture of an octopus with 96 tentacles, it looks...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:42:33 -0700

I love this picture of an octopus with 96 tentacles, it looks like the roots of a tree. Oddly, it has the normal 8 arms attached to the body but each one branches multiple times. (via Pink Tentacle)

ACROS Fukuoka is a building in Fukuoka City, Japan. Built on...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:32:31 -0700

ACROS Fukuoka is a building in Fukuoka City, Japan. Built on the last remaining green space in the city center, it was designed to preserve it as much as possible.

Vimeo Comments

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:25:57 -0700

Just wanted to add a couple things after I read through more staff comments on the Vimeo blog.

First, like I pointed out, Vimeo is putting hosting before community, contrary to what they may say. Staff comment: “I agree that you are a community, but we are not going to cost [sic] your community’s videos on Vimeo”

Despite the comment I posted in my previous post, another staff member doesn’t care about artistic value: “”Is it art?” is an endless philosophical debate that is great to have with your friends for hours of stimulating conversation. A more appropriate question here is “Will Vimeo host it?” The answer is no.”

There are other conflicting comments as well. Someone linked to a video of a tutorial for a game he made and a staff member claimed no issue but later another staff member says a video of a walkthrough of a level you create would be deleted.

For claiming to have been working on this decision for months, they still can’t give a clear and consistent policy.

Vimeo banning game videos

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:38:00 -0700

My 2 cents.

marco:

Tal Atlas’ rebuttal to my Vimeo defense ends with this:

I just fail to see the issues presented by gamer videos.

I’m not familiar with their particular situation, but I can guess how average gamer videos differ from average “other” videos:

They’re probably much longer.

If a video hosting site has problems with hosting long videos, they’re in the wrong business. I’m sure you could find example on both sides of this point but it shouldn’t matter.

Since they’re much easier to make and require far less time and equipment, they’re probably uploaded in high volume (per user). Not to say that gamers make up the majority of the userbase (they don’t), but where an average user might only be able to produce a few short videos per week or one significant video per month, a gamer can produce a 15-minute video every day.

What about people who make vlog entries? They require basically no equipment, can easily have a 15 minute video every day and often have less editing and effort than the average game video. Are they next?

Since the barrier to entry is much lower, their average quality is probably worse.

Since when is Vimeo, or any other video hosting site, about policing quality? Go read their About page and this point flies out the window. I quote: “Vimeo is a thriving community of people who love to make and share video. From simple moments to masterpieces, Vimeo is the perfect home for you to upload, store and share all the video you create.” Emphasis mine. Also note that they bill themselves as a community first and a host second. This policy alienates a part of their community to better their hosting.

They probably don’t get many views, relatively.

Again, read above. Community, however small, is first.

I think the greatest issue here is that Vimeo is basically banning game videos based on artistic merit. A staff comment even says, “If your videos have more artistic and creative merits than the usual screencast, then you’re fine.” Well where is the line? I’m pretty sure a video of a clan killing a WoW boss will be deleted but what about a GTA stunt montage? Not a shining example of art but does this have enough artistic and creative merits? Why would this same standard not apply to every video on Vimeo? Can you seriously tell me a video of someone’s ass with fart noises added took more effort or has more artistic value than either of the videos above? This also leaves many grey areas. For example, what if I make a game (or mod or level or anything), a very creative and artistic act, then post a gameplay video of it? Would Vimeo delete it?

(Also, a small point, but Vimeo says they’re banning fraps [sic] videos but “FRAPS” is a screen capture utility. Many machinima videos, which they are continuing to allow, use this. This just makes me think they don’t actually know what’s going on.)

Anyways, like Tal Atlas said, in the end, Vimeo can run their business how they want but I don’t see the issue. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Mike Mitchell

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:22:56 -0700

Mike Mitchell

Tilted Twister - a Lego Mindstorms robot that solves Rubik’s...

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:44:29 -0700

Tilted Twister - a Lego Mindstorms robot that solves Rubik’s cube

What’s really neat about this robot is that it only has three degrees of freedom, one of which is just to move the sensor in and out of position. Also impressive is the general solution the creator came up with to allow it to run solely on the NXT computer. Check the website for a video.

It's the little things, really...

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:03:00 -0700

marco:

lfarm:

You know how no one really eats the crusts of a loaf of bread? I sure don’t. And just today, 3 days before my 26th birthday, I’ve realized that instead of lifting up the crust piece to get to proper slices everytime I go to eat bread, I could simply just throw away the crust when I open a new loaf. Never considered than an option before. Changes everything.

I never throw away the front-butt either. I’m perfectly fine throwing away both butts at the end, but I think I’d feel wasteful tossing the front-butt right when I open the bag. It’s really just denial: for the majority of the loaf, I can safely think, “I’m not wasting the butts. I might eat them.”

I find the butts often make the best toast. I wonder if/how the crust actually changes how it toasts. I still leave the ends of the loaf until the end to keep the next slice fresher though. I have no idea if this actually makes a difference and am only now questioning this practice.

“The sign for the Gallery Hotel Art in Florence is very...

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:17:38 -0700

“The sign for the Gallery Hotel Art in Florence is very discrete - you can only see it at night, and it’s fashioned from small bits of bent wire, which when lit from above by a spotlight project shadows that reveal the hotel’s name on the stucco facade of the building.”

I’m taking a trip for the next few days and will be pretty much unplugged. In the mean-time,...

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:43:53 -0700

I’m taking a trip for the next few days and will be pretty much unplugged. In the mean-time, get your fill from What’s on Tumblr?

David Wiggins created a functioning ‘DeWalt-16’ out...

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:26:00 -0700

David Wiggins created a functioning ‘DeWalt-16’ out of an M16. The battery casing mag is the best part and you just have to love any gun with a ‘Rock n Roll’ selector. More pics and details here.

OH MY GOD IT'S UP! IT'S JOSS WHEDON'S "DR. HORRIBLE'S SINGALONG BLOG" and it's pretty good!

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:53:00 -0700

OH MY GOD IT'S UP! IT'S JOSS WHEDON'S "DR. HORRIBLE'S SINGALONG BLOG" and it's pretty good!:

(via nickdouglas)

Not much to add to that title except that I think the video is brilliant.

Rehabilitating sea lions. Best job ever?

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:09:09 -0700

Rehabilitating sea lions. Best job ever?

‘Daruma-otoshi’ skyscraper demolition Kajima...

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:54:07 -0700

‘Daruma-otoshi’ skyscraper demolition

Kajima Corporation, a Japanese construction company, demolishes high-rise buildings from the bottom up. They install computer controlled hydraulic jacks on the first floor, remove all the building material on that floor, then lower the jacks and repeat the process on the next floor.

I would imagine some people, unaware of the demolition, may think themselves crazy when they look out a window notice the building is a couple floors lower.

New Fatboy Slim song featuring David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal -...

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:33:01 -0700

New Fatboy Slim song featuring David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal - Toejam

The video is excellent and very NSFW. (via abelson and userused)