Mario Bothers vs Wright Brothers

I stumbled across this web series that I think is #Awesome. The concept involves historical figures (both alive, dead, and fictional) throwing to down in a well produced, low-blow rap battle.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m over the whole rap comedy=viral video thing, but the interactive element of this series wins me over. ERB (as the series creators abbreviate it) encourages fans to submit ideas on who should battle and vote on who wins. Speaking of creators, this series is a side project of popular YouTuber’s NicePeter and EpicLloyd. And to up the viewership ante, the most recent episode features RhettandLink as the Wright brothers.

Congrats to Grammy winner Adele, whose latest hit Someone Like You is scientifically proven to make you cry! To celebrate, let’s enjoy this cover, performed by a busker working for quarters in a New York subway stop.

When I watched this video last week, the morning was cold and grey (by Los Angeles standards), and I was huddled in bed with my laptop and cat, trying to procrastinate starting my day. And all of a sudden there I was, watching someone sing his heart out in such a beautiful simple way, all thanks to a stranger with a smart phone who shared a video with the entire world. And I had one of those moments that I don’t have that often anymore: I remembered just how fucking magical this all is.

For that, I’d put five bucks in that guy’s hat. If there was a way.

As Felicia is out of the country this week, you’re getting a double-dose of me (Barrett) instead. I can already hear you science nerds squealing with joy, but I’ve got something a little different up my sleeve today.

This week, one of my favorite Youtube producers, C. G. P. Grey, uses his charmingly inimitable style to finally shed some light on what has been a glaring gap in my knowledge my entire life.

You see, I’ve been content to call anyone from anywhere remotely close to London “British,” and having never been corrected by a Brit, I just assumed I was right to do so. I have been corrected by other people though, and as I rarely keep a Brit around just to clarify, this situation remained unsolved right up until the point where I found this video.

It turns out there is a big difference – big enough where even some citizens of the Isles might find it a bit confusing. Some of the rest of us just find it amusing (though that could also be the delivery) but it’s the “whole lot more” that the title promises where it really starts to get fascinating.

Both brilliant and appropriately creepy, Robot readable world by Timo Arnall attempts to show us how computers “see” the world, gathering “meaning from our streets, cities, media and from us.”

So now that we know how the machines see us, how long will it be untii we start deploying camouflage in order to hide from the machines?

Robot readable world, created by Timo Arnall.

Music: ”Cold Summer Landscape” by Blear Moon.