Pretty Darn Cool

Newswordy

2011-08-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

Can words be trendy? Newswordy is a site that picks words (one-a-day) out of the news and shows their frequent use (and misuse) in current stories, as well as their definition. The words tend to provide an rundown of recent headlines, the past week has included impasse, default, partisanship and intransigent.

It may also bring back memories of those pesky SAT flashcards.

Javier Colon and Stevie Nicks

2011-06-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Voice winner Javier Colon performed Landslide with Stevie Nicks on the season finale last night. Fabulous.

Did You Hear It Click?

2011-06-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

Frank and Rita are trying to take a picture on their new Mac and they just can't quite figure it out!

High School Lip Dub

2011-06-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Lip dubs are the new flash mob, but this one created by over 600 seniors at Clovis High School in California is pretty great. Set to "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi and "Firework" by Katy Perry the continuous shot video covers every aspect of high school. One student told the LA Times that the senior class wanted to leave something behind "that will always be remembered". This is way better than any senior prank.

Switch Canvas

2011-06-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

Valentin Ruhry created a blank canvas out of over 5,000 power switches. I want one of these for my apartment!

Whole Foods Parking Lot

2011-06-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

Poking a little fun at Whole Foods. You can download a free ring tone version as well.

National History

2011-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently America's fourth, eighth and twelfth graders aren't very good at U.S. History according to the results of by the National Assessment of Educational Progress 2010 Report Card. GOOD provides a few reasons kids aren't learning about Abraham Lincoln and Brown v. Board of Education, but could you do better? Try your hand at a few questions.

29 Ways to Stay Creative

2011-06-15T11:56:00.001-07:00

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Grand Rapids

2011-06-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Grand Rapids, Michigan was listed as one of Newsweek's Ten Dying Cities and the residents decided to do something about it.

They produced a lip dub video to Don McLean's American Pie in the city featuring the city's own residents and landmarks.

Freaker USA

2011-06-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

Awesome video for the Freaker, way cooler than a coozy, check out his project on Kickstarter. I want a Freaker!

Literally Unbelievable

2011-05-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

This site features two of my favorite things: the word literally and people being stupid. Literally Unbelievable captures screengrabs of people's responses to articles they find appalling that are actually from The Onion.

50 State Stereotypes

2011-05-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

To promote his book, States of Confusion about his trip across the US, Paul Jury created a 2-minute video highlighting the stereotypes of all 50 states. Pretty funny.

Everything is a Remix

2011-05-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Everything Is A Remix: KILL BILL from robgwilson.com on Vimeo.

I have never seen the Kill Bill movies, but is amazing all of the references to other films it makes (apparently a regular part of Quentin Tarantino's movies).

Black Eyed Peas Wedding

2011-05-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

joya and emre | wedding music video from David Robin on Vimeo.

I am not the biggest Blacked Eyed Peas fan, but this is pretty fantastic.

Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma

2011-04-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

Brought together after a friend of Yo-Yo Ma's saw Lil Buck (aka Charles Riley) on Youtube this collaboration happened at a benefit for art programs in public schools. Yo-Yo ma plays "The Swan" as Lil Buck interprets the music through his unique style of dance.

Symmetry

2011-04-20T12:21:00.001-07:00

Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

Tax Receipt

2011-04-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

Where is all that money you are sending to the government going? Get your receipt to find out.

Redefining Apathy

2011-04-16T17:27:00.001-07:00

A Life Lesson

2011-03-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

Green Tunnel

2011-03-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

Green Tunnel from Kevin Gallagher on Vimeo.

Take 2,200 mile journey down the Applachian Trail in under five minutes. Made from the over 4,000 slides Kevin Gallagher took on his six-month journey after graduating college.

What Does Your Email Domain Say About You?

2011-03-09T15:39:00.001-08:00

Are you an overweight, middle-age woman who has never left the country or a thin, young man with a college degree? Is your email address sending the wrong message? See the full report or check out the roll-over graphics.

Blast From The Past

2011-03-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

Irina Werning, a photographer, decided to act on her obession with old photographs and recreated an album of other people's pasts.

Uncharted

2011-03-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Sara Bareilles - Music - More Music Videos

Too busy to make your own music video? Just call your famous friends like, Ben Folds, Adam Levine, Pharrell, Vanessa Carlton, Josh Groban and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles and have them lip sync it for you like Sara Bareilles did for her latest music video, "Uncharted." Oh, and the YouTube king of lip syncing Keenan Cahill also makes an appearance.

Famous Objects from Classic Movies

2011-02-28T09:45:00.001-08:00

I am not sure I would classify some of the answers as classics, but a fun game nonetheless. Using a hangman-like answering system guess which movie these 70+ objects are from.

Really Fox News?

2011-01-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

The Fox News cartographer should probably take a refresher course on the Middle East. I am pretty sure that's not the exact location of Egypt.

Bottle

2011-01-26T20:18:00.000-08:00

Bottle from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

Super cute! Written, directed, animated, edited, and sound by Kirsten Lepore.

One Year in 90 Seconds

2011-01-20T08:16:00.001-08:00

Trenta

2011-01-19T08:29:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Starbucks announced the new Trenta size to be rolled out around the country over the course of the year. Not only will it contain the caffeine equivalent of four cups of coffee but is pretty much the same size as your stomach.

Pixar's Zoetrope

2011-01-12T08:49:00.000-08:00

Pretty awesome. I wish the exhibit was still open, but here is a little more info.

For Type Lovers Everywhere

2011-01-12T08:34:00.001-08:00

The Alphabet from n9ve on Vimeo.

I Hope This Gets To You

2011-01-05T07:06:00.001-08:00

His girlfriend moved and now he is trying to send her this self-made music video via social media. Will it get to her? Check via twitter @WalterCMay. Includes some awesome hand acting.

Dear Blank, Please Blank.

2011-01-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

A site full of funny submissions like the following:

Dear TSA,
Congratulations. You have now handled more packages than us.
Sincerely, UPS

There is also a site full of submissions that didn't quite make the cut because they were bad, repetitive or the author simply couldn't spell. Make sure you rate the submissions with the buttons below each one, this is one of the best parts of the site.

Josh Groban Sings Kanye West's Tweets

2011-01-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

2000 vs 2010

2011-01-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

What happens in a decade?

Comic Sans Criminal

2010-12-30T09:33:00.000-08:00

Are you a Comic Sans criminal?

The Digital Story of Christmas

2010-12-30T09:20:00.001-08:00

In 25 Years: Time Capsule

2010-12-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

Where will you be in 25 years? Send your future self a message.

Teaching Design for Change

2010-12-07T07:41:00.001-08:00

Maybe You Should Rise

2010-11-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

Mash up of Lebron James and Micheal Jordan's Nike ads "Maybe" and "Rise".

Top 48 Ads That Would Never Be Allowed Today

2010-11-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

There's more...

Warren Buffett Should Pay More Taxes

2010-11-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

Billionaire Warren Buffett rebutted claims that the Obama administration is unjustly hurting business orders with high taxes by saying that in fact, the wealthy have never had it so good.

The History of American Political Opinion

2010-11-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

Isarithmic History of the Two-Party Presidential Vote from d sparks on Vimeo.

David B. Sparks, a political science Ph.D candidate at Duke, put together the above animation showing the red-blue divide as it has evolved in presidential elections from 1920-2008.

Sparks writes:

This animated interpretation accentuates certain phenomena: the breadth and duration of support for Roosevelt, the shift from a Democratic to a Republican South, the move from an ostensibly east-west division to the contemporary coasts-versus-heartland division, and the stability of the latter.

More broadly, this video is a reminder that what constitutes “politics as usual” is always in flux, shifting sometimes abruptly. The landscape of American politics is constantly evolving, as members of the two great parties battle for electoral supremacy.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2010-11-23T06:33:00.000-08:00

In a typical Thanksgiving meal, Americans will consume more than 1600 calories!

Where Does the Money Go?

2010-11-23T06:25:00.000-08:00

How do you compare to the "average consumer unit" in spending?

Number 17

2010-11-23T06:20:00.000-08:00

Matt Stevens contribution to a collection of designs and illustrations of personal interpretations of the number 17.

Product Differentiation

2010-11-23T06:19:00.000-08:00

Isn't it all just water?

How Complexity Leads to Simplicity

2010-11-18T08:22:00.001-08:00

Immappancy

2010-10-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

What if there was a concept known as immappancy, meaning insufficient geographical knowledge? The majority of American schoolkids responded that America was the largest country in the world and had a population of 1-2 billion in a random survey.

And who knew Africa was so big?

Mapping Stereotypes

2010-10-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

Enter Mapping Stereotypes: the Geography of Prejudice, an online project by London graphic designer Yanko Tsvetkov , which attempts to unite the peoples of the world using their propensity to make hasty generalizations about one another.

Movie Posters

2010-10-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

10 Redesigned Movie Posters Inspired by Men’s Style

Typographic Maps

2010-10-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

Fabulous typographic maps of Chicago and Boston available for purchase in multiple sizes.

Dear Typography

2010-10-08T07:02:00.001-07:00

Love it.

The Coffee Bag

2010-10-06T08:25:00.001-07:00

I don't drink coffee but this is genius.

If You Do This In Email, I Hate You.

2010-10-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

The Oatmeal would like to give you some advice to make sure all those emails you send out everyday are not just annoying all of their recipients.

Brand Quiz: Numbered Names

2010-10-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

Specific numbers are sometimes associated with or incorporated into brand names. This is a quiz to match the number with the product or company. (i.e. 711 for 7-Eleven). Give yourself extra points and a pat on the back, if you can explain how the connection came to be. Answers.

Funny Family Feud

2010-10-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

Planet Money's Toxic Asset

2010-10-05T07:18:00.001-07:00

The Planet Money podcast and blog did a great job explaining the financial crisis starting at the end of 2008. Now they are explaining the crisis' byproduct: toxic assets.

A History of Rap

2010-10-05T06:53:00.001-07:00

Procrastination

2010-09-29T07:45:00.001-07:00

Procrastination from ism studios on Vimeo.

Opening animation for the 2010 ANZ PromaxBDA Conference.

2000 vs 2010

2010-09-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Crazy. What will 30GB look like in 2020?

Name the Movie

2010-09-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Pretty cool animation, but can you name all 26 films hidden within?

$$$

2010-09-22T12:15:00.001-07:00

Futuristic living room or private jet? Thirty pictures of the world's most opulent private jets.

Human Intel Chime

2010-09-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

These people are crazy. They produced the Intel chime by dropping five Intel employees off the roof of their six-store building in Romania.

If Superheroes Were Hipsters

2010-09-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

More hipster superheroes

Die Art

2010-09-15T15:43:00.001-07:00

The original piece is good, but the flip is really impressive...

Keep Your Goals to Yourself

2010-09-09T09:42:00.001-07:00

Words

2010-08-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

Have you ever considered just how many different usages there are for many of the most common words in our vocabulary?

Five Books

2010-08-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Looking to become an expert on Elizabeth I or China? At Five Books a prominent expert provides you a mini-syllabus of five books to read on a different topic each day.

Camera Flash

2010-08-05T06:51:00.000-07:00

Robbie Williams asked his audience to pull out their cameras and, on his cue, fire off the flash. The resulting scene was pretty awesome to behold.

Really?

2010-08-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

The vampire craze may have just crossed the line.

Google Alarm

2010-07-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Google Alarm from Jamie Dubs on Vimeo.

Make yourself paranoid by installing the Google Alarm for Firefox. It will visually and audibly alert you everytime you visit a website that sends personal web browsing habits back to Google.

Minute Suites

2010-07-22T07:54:00.001-07:00

Next time you have a long layover look for a Minute Suites and rent a room for $30/hour.

$44 PBR?

2010-07-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

In China they are marketing PBR as an upscale beer for $44 a bottle. As the Time article says, "And as a rule, $44 a bottle is about $42 more than any sane person should be paying for PBR."

iPad Finger Painting

2010-07-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

Off!

2010-07-11T07:16:00.001-07:00

Clever.

Yellow Pages

2010-06-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

For Real!

Alex Trebek in Auto Tune

2010-06-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hand Written Emails

2010-06-21T15:16:00.001-07:00

Cool marketing concept. Turn your handwriting into a font.

Street Tennis

2010-06-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

Andy Murray, #4 in the world and England's hope for a British Wimbledon champion.

No More Vuvuzelas

2010-06-17T10:23:00.001-07:00

Remove the noise of the vuvuzelas from your World Cup viewing with the equalizer function on your computer, television or stereo.

2010-06-15T05:54:00.002-07:00

Pretty amazing World Cup calendar. Find a game by team, date, stage or stadium in seconds.

Candle Stop Motion

2010-06-15T05:54:00.001-07:00

Your Brain on Computers

2010-06-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

According to an article in the New York Times our brains are changing and "our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information." Test your focus and how fast you juggle tasks.

Recurring Prop Newspaper

2010-06-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

Apparently every tv show and movie uses the same prop newpaper. See the full list.

Crayon Footballers

2010-06-11T08:15:00.000-07:00

Nike commissioned crayon sculpting artist Diem Chau to produce eleven one-of-a-kind press kits to commemorate the World Cup. Each press kit included six football stars immortalized in copper, silver, white, gold, antique brass and timberwold Crayons.

Oopsie Doodle!

2010-06-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

Niger Vs. Germany Soccer Broadcast Failure

Stop Motion Mario

2010-06-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Behind the Scenes

2010-06-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

A behind the scenes look at setting up the "machine" for OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" video.

The World Economy

2010-06-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

Australian political satire team John Clarke and Bryan Dawe manage—by having Clarke play a “financial consultant” named Roger—to break down the numbers of which country owes or is lending which.

It’s the question of the day: “How can broke economies lend money to other broke economies who haven’t got any money because they can’t pay back the money the broke economy lent to the other broke economy and shouldn’t have lent it to them in the first place ’cause the broke economy can’t pay it back?”

The Europeans might be in trouble because they're all in debt, but the US is okay because we are owned by China.

Velcro Changes Everything

2010-05-28T05:47:00.001-07:00

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Bladeless Fan Balloon Course

2010-05-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Meet Wenlock and Mandeville!

2010-05-20T14:34:00.001-07:00

Wenlock and Mandeville are the 2012 Olympic mascots in London. They leave me at a loss for words.

Who You Gonna Call?

2010-05-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

The New York Public Library brought in Improv Everywhere to help raise awareness about their Don't Close the Book fundraising campaign.

New Double-Deckers

2010-05-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

London's double-deckers are scheduled to debut a new look in 2012 according to the city of London's website.

Airspace Rebooted

2010-05-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

Airspace Rebooted from ItoWorld on Vimeo.

A little late, but watch as the airspace in Europe comes to life after the ash from the unfortunately named Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, dissipates. It is kind of crazy just how much flight activity is going on above our heads, all the time.

Magnetic Internet Poetry

2010-05-18T06:05:00.001-07:00

A site designed to simulate your refrigerator. Join others in rearranging the magnetic words to create poetry. Every thirty minutes the site refreshes and new words appear.

2010-05-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

Reading coach Janet Bergh got permission to use the music to the Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling", had the lyrics rewritten about reading, got Ocoee Middle School's 1700 students to recreate the dancing, bouncing flash mob she had seen on Oprah and made this video. It made its way to Oprah and now she and Target are making over the school library with new furniture, new computers and 2000 books.

The Google Job Experiment

2010-05-14T05:20:00.000-07:00

Why didn't I think of that?

Mama Bear Saves Cub

2010-05-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Mother bear Bjork rescues her cub at the Berne Bear Park in Switzerland.

OSU Flash Mob

2010-05-06T20:07:00.000-07:00