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You can think of advertisements as an automatic nuisance, but we’ve come to respect and admire the ones who’ve obviously had thought and care put into their production. The commercial above is one of the best ads we’ve come across, and it’s for Google Maps. It chronicles the 20 year journey of Saroo Brierley, a man originally from India who was separated from his family at a train station at the age of 6, and who spent the next 20 years trying to find his way back home. It’s touching and beautiful, and definitely worth taking 3 minutes out of your life to watch.

VIA [ Mashable ]

Ok, first of all, this is an engineered viral video ad for the movie Carrie. But that doesn’t matter, because we’re of the belief that if an ad is actually entertaining, we’re all for watching it. And this particular commercial is awesome. It’s an elaborate prank on some unsuspecting coffee shop customers involving a girl with “telekinetic powers”. It’s so well made that you’d actually have a hard time believing it’s a prank. It involves tables on RC wheels, and a dude hanging from a wall.

It’s a fun watch. 10 million views in two days can’t all be wrong, right?

VIA everywhere.

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon are bros for life and it shows in their latest comedy skit that mocks hashtags–or rather, its overuse and the sometimes annoying ways that people use them. The celebrity duo manage to have an entire conversation that’s peppered in the end by a multitude of hashtags that people normally use when they’re on Twitter or on some other social network.

At first, it’s fine. But then, it slowly starts to get on your nerves…

There’s nothing annoying about Justin and Jimmy though. In fact, they manage to show how silly and dumb conversations sound when hashtags are added at the end of every statement. This skit will either have you hanging your head in shame or laughing your head off–or both. Watch it. You won’t regret it. #nokidding #forreal #okay #imdone #bye

VIA [ Gizmodo ]

Granted, we’re not suggesting you teach your toddler to actually wrestle Cthulhu, especially given that it’s a fictional character. But given its monstrous appearance, it might not be such a bad idea to introduce your child to a giant plush toy fashioned after the creature. If your baby can learn to sleep with a large and heavy tentacled stuffed animal, he may grow up to be of a tougher constitution than a child brought up hugging a yellow sponge with pants. Then again, he may not.. we are not child psychologists and couldn’t be trusted with taking care of anything more complex than a fish, let alone giving parenting advice.

This plush toy is big, and weighs 9.9lbs; it might be better suited as a crib adornment than a huggable teddy bear. But if the mighty Cthulhu tickles your fancy, prepare to pay $460 for the privilege of ownership.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Technabob ]

For their engagement photos, Chris and Alexandra came up with a fun and unique concept that’s definitely got people talking: a horror comic book theme. Their couple is all lovey dovey until they spot a saw-wielding masked man. That’s when the horror begins, and the photos play out like a comic book as the couple spring into action.

It’s definitely different from most engagement shoots where couples just lie around and gaze into each other’s eyes the entire time. Hit the break to check out the full gallery–and to find out what happens next.

Photographer Laszlo Bodnar told The Huffington Post that the bride and groom-to-be…are big fans of thrillers and horror movies and suggested a “Texas Chainsaw”-like set for the shoot. Bodnar decided to take their idea a step further by arranging the photos in a comic format.

Obviously, the story ends well. It is an engagement shoot, after all.

VIA [ Huffington Post ]

Imagine you can take a flat picture, and with just a few clicks, extract the three dimensional structures present. And not just extract them, but then manipulate them, transform them, copy them, and move them around the image. That’s what this software, 3-Sweep, does. It was demonstrated at SIGGRAPH Asia 2013, and while a written explanation is all fine and dandy, you really won’t get the scope of just fantastic this technology is unless you watch the video below.

You get the feeling that this is still in its early developmental stages, so there are some visible limitations. But in terms of what it’s capable already, we’ve never seen anything like it. If Adobe doesn’t have their eye on these guys, they’re making a big mistake.

VIA [ Reddit ]