spriteleigh

Ever since Photoshop came to town photos have become much less believable overall, because anybody can now erase, shape, edit, airbrush, color correct, clone stamp, warp, filter, soften via blur and add to any and all photos whenever they want.

Addition via Photoshop can be a powerful tool, and one little addition is all it takes to entirely change the meaning of a photograph. 

1. Make 'Em Smile!-

Sharks already have a pretty toothy grin, but whether they're happy or not their smile looks like the stuff of nightmares. Thankfully Photoshop can help soften their image:

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With one little addition great white sharks go from Jaws to jokesters, always ready to make 'em laugh with a one-liner about porpoises:

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That old tooth addition trick works well with amphibians too:

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2. Add A Hand, Change The Movie-

According to the movie, Rocky had no love for the trash talkin' Clubber Lang, but imagine how different that trilogy could have been if Rocky fought opponents in the ring, then had to fight for their hearts after the bout.

All it takes is one hand to change Rocky III from a sports flick to a tender romance:

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3. There Will Be Blood-

When kids play in the mud it looks like a total disaster, but not the type of disaster where young lives are in danger. Enter your friendly neighborhood Photoshops and this messy, muddy playtime turns into a total bloodbath!:

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4. Keep It Clean-

Two guys goofing around, what could be dirty and depraved about that? Well, everything of course, but in this instance these two guys were just acting like goofballs for the camera.

Then somebody had to crop the pic, add captions and turn the whole thing into a completely different, and much dirtier, story:

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5. Epic Snow Cat-

Snow Cat already looks pretty epic, strutting his stuff all proud and fluffy:

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But why is Snow Cat so proud? Add some Photoshop awesomeness and the answer is revealed- because 'splosions:

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6. Ronald Demands A Recount!-

You head to McDonalds and buy a box of McNuggets, expecting to receive ten pieces as advertised on the box:

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And then the power of maths and Photoshops combine to show you how they count McNuggets in McDonaldLand:

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7. George W.'s Unhealthy Appetite-

Whether ya loved him or hated him, there's one thing you can say without a doubt about former President George W. Bush- he had a healthy appetite and wasn't afraid to show it:

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However, there were times when his unearthly hunger couldn't be satisfied by mere ears of corn- George needed protein, the younger and leaner the better!:

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8. The Sound Of Sports-

Baskeball players are very physical athletes who take the sport very seriously, perhaps a little too seriously at times:

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Maybe it would be good for the guys in the NBA to embrace their jazzy side and perform for their adoring public a different way- by playing some bebopping jazz tunes for the crowd:

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9. Thou Shalt Not Pass Sanrio...Without Popping In For A Sec-

Gandalf went from grey to white thanks to a nifty new invention called a washing machine, but even his bleached makeover couldn't bring him true happiness:

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Just imagine how different his life could have been if there was a Sanrio store in Middle Earth, he would have been one happy little Hobbit loving camper!:

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Now that you have witnessed Photoshop's magical power to alter an image's meaning you'll never be able to look at a photograph without thinking of ways to "fix" it digitally, and thus a hilarious new generation of altered images will arise!

EFF's annual crossword puzzle is a roundup of news stories from the world of digital civil liberties from 2014. Can you get 'em all without googling? Read the rest

A jury today ruled in favor of Apple in a long-running, class-action lawsuit that charged the tech giant with antitrust law violations over suppressing competition for iPod music devices. Read the rest

Back in the mid-90s, late game maker Theresa Duncan made some unconventional, ground-breaking CD games based on the everyday experiences of young girls.

Read the rest

As Schneier points out, the way this is spun ("only 39% of people did something because of Snowden") is bullshit: the headline number is that more than 700 million people are in the market for a product that barely exists, and that could make more money than Facebook if you get it right. Read the rest

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If you want to start watching the modern Doctor Who, then you've got 8 seasons to catch up on. That comes out to (I think) 122 episodes. That's a lot, but it's feasible. It'll just take a few months.

Now classic Doctor Who--the show than ran from 1963 to 1989--that's a different story. Then you've got 707 episodes. To the extent that watching TV can be considered an act of work, it's a huge chore.

But don't worry. This video will help you get caught up very quickly. You'll just watch all of the episodes simultaneously. It's helpfully annotated with the names of the actors who played the Doctor.

-via David Thompson

Two recent Storify pages provide some fascinating insight on how this group came to conceive of "gamer" as a fictional "ethnicity" with a persecution complex (from Katherine Cross), as well as on how the cultural norms of Chan-style boards drive this perplexing clash with the realms of people's real working and social lives (from A_Man_in_Black). Read the rest

For people who enjoy drinking the sour weak coffee produced by Keurig machines, Gizmodo shows you how to trick the machines into accepting coffee pods that are missing the security chip.

Read the rest

Hugh Atkin (of Romney Raps Eminem fame) writes, "This is a new video I've made in response to repeated, identical claims of copyright infringement by Sony Music Entertainment in respect of my 2008 video 'Barackroll.' Every time I've challenged a complaint, they've let it lapse and then subsequently filed identical complaints."

A federal judge in New York has ruled that telling people where to get DRM-removal software isn't against the law -- it's a huge shift in the case-law around DRM, and it's an important step in the right direction. Read the rest

Under the revived WIPO Broadcast Treaty, broadcasters would have the right to stop you from using public domain and CC-licensed video footage as you choose, effectively giving them a new copyright over material simply by sending it out over the air. Read the rest

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YouTube stars got together, like they do every year, to mashup the music and memes of the year before we turn out calendars. The music is pretty good, but it’s a couple minutes into the video before we see any recognizable memes- and then they are overwhelmed by TV stars. Maybe 2014 on the internet won’t be as memorable as some other years. Maybe we’re all just a little too jaded. A list of all the folks who contributed can be found at the YouTube page. -via Uproxx 

See also: YouTube Rewind 2012 and 2013.

Since 1989 a television program called America's Funniest Home Videos has been sharing examples of finely crafted home video footage with television viewers. 

Vintage home videos, like those found on that famous home video clip show, are crawling out of their VHS slipcovers and into your eyeballs thanks to the video oddities at Memory Hole.

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The fine folks at Everything Is Terrible have let their finely honed instincts for bizarre visual fare blossom into the Memory Hole- a collection of remixed retro videos sure to elicit a response.

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Whether that response is the viewer yelling WTF?! with a smile or running away from their computer screen in a cold sweat depends on how old your eyeballs are, and how well you handle home video oddities like this disturbing little bathtub ditty:

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The Avengers have the Christmas spirit! With the help of some editing by James Covenant, the superheroes sing some Christmas tunes. Then there’s a special bonus song by Groot. Really. -via Time

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For 2 seconds, the trailer for the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, shows an astromech with a spherical lower body. It quickly rolls across the desert, then disappears from the screen. That droid has been the subject of much fascination in the internet.

What's so exciting to fans is that although this is the first time that the droid has appeared in a Star Wars film, it has already appeared in a George Lucas film. It was in the Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark. So it is something of a homage to the founder of Star Wars.

-via Moe Lane

After years in development, a big-screen version of Stephen King’s It is set to start production in the spring. Producer Dan Lin said in an interview that It will be his next project. True Detective director Cary Fukunaga will direct the film. Lin told Vulture,

A fantastic spoof.

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Canadian Sleepy Skunk is a video editor who puts out an annual trailer compilation of films released that year. Neatorama featured his videos for 2013 and2012, but in those years he included the trailer for every movie released in those years. Evidently he's switched it up this year to include those he deems the best. From big-budget action to horror and beyond, this six-minute mashup of 197 trailers has a little bit of everything and a lot of eye candy. 

View a complete list of the trailers Sleepy Skunk used in the video at his Tumblr. 

-Via Tastefully Offensive

December 2, 2014 - 3:30pm

dj BC writes, "It's the 9th annual Santastic Holiday mashup collection. Contains much Beatles, Mariah Carey, AC/DC, Flula, Ella Fitzgerald, The Staple Singers, various holiday bad guys, DMX..." Read the rest

"Sith Army Knife" | Image: BillyElNino

After the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released, the excitement for some fans was not to be contained. These fans channeled their enthusiasm in various ways, from fan art to analysis of the trailer, scrutinizing every last shot. In addition, as with many popular images circulating on the Internet, a meme was born. Here are some examples of meme files that have been making the rounds. 

See more images of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens meme varietyhere. 


Image (shot taken from animated gif): mundodvd

 Image:  imgurbannedmebutnowimback

Image: Facebook

Image:  Kotay111

Video games are already pretty awesome, but what happens when they get mashed up with another video game or pop culture franchise? You get ten times the awesome in the form of a video that's super fun to watch and would probably be even more fun to play as an actual game!

Here are ten or so mighty funny video game mashup videos, some of which may contain NSFW language:

1. Pony Fortress- Teamwork is Magic-

What could make the kooky crew from the Team Fortress franchise even more fun? How about some cute little ponies courtesy of Sayer Raider's Pony Fortress 2- Teamwork is Magic!:

(YouTube Link)

2. Sonic For Hire-

Sonic is one of the most beloved characters in the video game world, but according to this hilarious series entitled Sonic For Hire by Lowbrow Studios he's also a bit of a slacker.

You'd think with all those golden rings he's always picking up in every world he visits he could afford to pay his rent, but I guess he's just not very good at saving his money:

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3. Chuck Norris Vs. Five Nights At Freddy's-

The murderous animatronic characters found in Five Nights At Freddy's scare the wits out of gamers, but they're no match for the Chuck Norris!

This great mashup vid was created by Dane Boe, a guy who probably didn't even jump when one of Freddy's friends popped out of the dark at him, because he had the power of Chuck Norris on his side:

(YouTube Link)

4. MINESHAFT!!!-

What do you get when you cross the blockheadedness of Minecraft with a gritty tale about a private dick and his crime solving days in New Block City? You get MINESHAFT!!!, one hilariously square mashup by Steelehouse Digital:

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5. The Strangerhood-

The Strangerhood is a hilarious parody of sitcoms, reality shows and other television fare, created by Rooster Teeth using the Sims 2, which means it's even more real than most reality shows!:

(YouTube Link)

6. Contra Vs. Duck Hunt-

When you're sitting at home plinking away at those virtual ducks with that bright orange NES Zapper gun it feels like a miracle when you hit anything at all, but call in the supercommandos from Contra and watch those pixelated feathers fly! Here's another hilarious vid by Dane Boe:

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7. The Leet World-

The Leet World is Counter Strike meets MTV's The Real World, and it's downright ridiculous! Existential crises, men in full combat gear sharing observations on life, and opposing forces forced to live in the same house...sounds like the makings of a hit reality show to me!:

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8. Grand Theft Mario-

All it takes is a goofy costume and some old school sound effects and the world of GTA feels a little more like the Mushroom Kingdom, thanks to this ridiculous short by TJ Barry of Euphorian Films:

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9. MMOvie-

If World Of Warcraft is all some gamers need to satisfy their gaming urges, then why not make WoW into every movie ever as well, to satisfy two different pop culture appetites at once? Voig and Full Stealth Films teamed up to create this fun-tastic trailer for the series:

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And if you liked the trailer here's the first episode, which continues the tradition of making MMO fans say "wow":

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10. The Idiots Of Garry's Mods 2-

This is one hilarious, and diverse, machinima mashup video by ICTON featuring some seriously funny moments, but this mega mashup weighs in at a hefty twenty two minutes long so it's best enjoyed a little bit at a time:

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And if you're able to handle the madness of part 2 then you've gotta check out The Idiot's Of Gary's Mods 1.5, a newly enhanced version of the idiotic video that started it all!

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We hope you've enjoyed these gamer-iffic shorts, and hope you'll remember that there's more to life than video games- like machinima videos and video game themed animated shorts!

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If you wanted to remake the Marvel movie series The Avengers as a retro made-for-TV movie from the 1970s, you wouldn’t even have to shoot film, because it’s already been done. All you’d have to do is go through the TV archives and edit our favorite superheroes together. They’re all here: the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, and Hawkeye (which is a bit of a stretch, but it’s funny enough to let slide). We’ve also got Loki and KISS as super villains, which I think works quite well. This guy should do a Justice League version next!  -via Laughing Squid

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Will we ever be able to let go of Breaking Bad? Maybe not, when fans keep giving us treats like this supercut from Matthijs Vlot. Vlot made a rap song out of clips from the TV show that rhymes, holds a proper beat, and does not rely on autotune or other tricks outside of old-fashioned editing. It’s just Walter, Jesse, and the other characters saying the things they said. The result is catnip for fans of the show! -via Warming Glow

See more video magic from Matthijs Vlot.

Yannick writes, "We live-streamed our second annual Canadian conference of Citizens' Climate Lobby, a day of speeches, with a very interesting panel discussion." (more…)

November 24, 2014 - 6:00am