Time-Lapse -- One Year in 40 Seconds

Nice example of time-lapse photography. Description from the author:

Images snapped at the same spot through one year. Showing the seasons change. For more information on how the video was made visit my web site. The audio is actual recordings from the same spot. The images are from Oslo, Norway 2008.

 

Family Guy Chicken Fights

A funny set of gags from Family Guy, these three clips show the running battle between Peter Griffin and a man in a chicken suit. Peter Fights a Chicken from the Episode "Da Boom" Chicken Fight from the Episode "Blind Ambition" Chicken Fight Two from the Episode "No Chris Left Behind"

Knight Rider Christmas

The story of how Michael and KITT saved Christmas told with KITT photos and old school rap.

The darkest moment ever known?

"Diablo III" Preview

G4's All Access previews Diablo III

Roger Ebert Reviews "The Wrestler"

Roger Ebert reviews The Wrestler -- 4 stars.

Icon Watch

Cool Icon Watch inspired by 8-bit graphics available at the
MoMA Store:

With a nod to the era of 8-bit computer graphics, the face of this watch is shaped like a computer icon.

Toyota Expects Its First Loss Since Before WWII

On Monday, Toyota announced that it expects an operating loss of $1.7 billion in its auto business for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009. If so, the loss would be the company’s first since 1938. In a sign of how fast the economy has deteriorated, last year Toyota reported $28 billion in operating profit earned. [NY Times: Toyota Expects Its First Loss in 70 Years]

Fry's VP Accused of Stealing $65M to Pay Gambling Debts

According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

A Ferrari-driving vice president of Fry's Electronics Inc. who was allegedly such a heavyweight gambler that casinos chartered private planes to fly him to Las Vegas has been arrested on charges he embezzled more than $65 million from the retailer to fuel his lavish lifestyle and pay off debts....

The IRS alleges in a criminal complaint filed against Siddiqui that he set up a shell company that hid $65.6 million in kickback payments from five Fry's vendors from January 2005 to November 2008. Of that amount, $17.9 million was paid to subsidiaries of Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates the Venetian Casino Resort, according to the criminal complaint and regulatory filings. Authorities confirmed the payments went to the casino.

A reminder of why operating casinos is such a big business.

MGM Launches $70 Million Ad Campaign for "Valkyrie"

According to the NY Post, MGM is planning to spend over $70 million in the U.S. alone to market the upcoming Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is spending twice the usual amount to market Tom Cruise's "Valkyrie," in an effort to give it a fighting chance when it opens at the box office Christmas day.

"Valkyrie" is the second film that MGM is releasing under the revived United Artists banner, and its success is critical from both a public relations and financial perspective.

Studios typically reserve that kind of spending for films with blockbuster potential... Films expected to generate less than $100 million - and industry watchers say "Valkyrie" fits into that category - generally get marketing budgets of around $35 million.

With the extended marketing spend, the total cost of Valkyrie is estimated at $160 million.

Owlboy 2D Game

Owlboy is a 2D platformer for Xbox Live Community Game coming to consoles in 2009. This is the first gameplay video released, showing parts of the first two levels. Looks like a lot of delicious retro 2D fun.

Alan Horn, President of Warner Bros., Talks Superheroes

Alan Horn, President of Warner Bros., talks Dark Knight, Superman, Green Lantern, and more...

Top 10 Letterman's Top 10 of 2008

1. Top Ten Surprising Facts about Obama
2. Top Ten Reasons to Watch the New Season of 'Battlestar Galactica'
3. Top Ten Sarah Palin Excuses
4. Top Ten Good Things About Being Named James Bond
5. Top Ten Terrell Owens Advice For Kids
6. Top Ten Messages Left on Barack Obama's Answering Machine
7. Top Ten Eliot Spitzer Excuses
8. Top Ten Sarah Palin Excuses For Spending $150K On Clothes
9. Top Ten Stupid Things Americans Say To Brits
10. Top Ten Signs President Bush Doesn't Care Anymore

Jingle Bells Played with 49 Microwaves

Cute version of the holiday classic.

Bottle Rockets - "Welfare Music"

"Welfare Music" -- the Bottle Rockets perform at the Basement in Nashville, August 2008.

Wilco at the Spectrum -- "I'm the Man Who Loves You"

Wilco performs "I'm the Man Who Loves You" at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

Inside Google Book Search: Magazines come to Google Book Search

Inside Google Book Search: Magazines come to Google Book Search

Sock Puppet Wants His Bailout

From Reason.tv, former Pets.com Sock Puppet asks Congress: "Why are you talking about bailing out the auto companies when you let all us tech companies just crash and burn?"



From the page:

One of the great casualties of the tech bubble bust, Pets.com's Sock Puppet mascot, asks Congress for his unfair share of the awful bailouts.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2008

Merriam-Webster Online released their Word of the Year list for this year. Words are ranked based on the highest intensity of lookups on Merriam-Webster Online over the shortest period of time.

1. bailout
2. vet
3. socialism
4. maverick
5. bipartisan
6. trepidation
7. precipice
8. rogue
9. misogyny
10. turmoil

(Should America be concerned that searchers don't seem to know what socialism is?)

Late Show Top Ten Sarah Palin Excuses

From the Home Office in Wahoo, Nebraska, David Letterman's funny list of Top 10 excuses for Sarah Palin's disastrous turkey interview.

Also check out Letterman's earlier Top Ten Sarah Palin Excuses For Spending $150K On Clothes.

"Twilight" Opens with a Big Box Office

The latest weekend box office estimates show Twilight making a very strong November opening:

1.	Twilight	$70M
2.	Quantum of Solace	$27M
3.	Bolt	$27M
4.	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	$16M
5.	Role Models	$7M

Twilight was created by Summit for only $37M and a sequel New Moon has already been announced.

Star Trek: The Fate of the Redshirts

A redshirt: we all know this is going to end badly.

Conan O'Brien Goes Green

"A Colbert Christmas" Preview Clip

In this preview clip, Toby Keith and Stephen Colbert talk about their favorite time of the year.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

A Colbert Christmas: Preview - Toby Keith

Ron Paul Interview
Bob Barr Interview

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Hartford Financial Spends $10 Million to Get $1.1 Billion

From Bloomberg:

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. jumped 21 percent to $12.65. The insurer that lost 79 percent of its market value in the past two months said it's buying a Florida bank for $10 million to become eligible for federal rescue funds. Hartford expects to qualify for $1.1 billion to $3.4 billion under Treasury Department guidelines.

As Portfolio notes:

In a sign of how far we have come from the last banking fiasco, the S&L fiasco of the early 1990’s, as how as how deep the current financial crisis is, one of the nation’s biggest insurance companies wants to become a savings and loan.

Justin Timberlake on SNL Weekend Update

Justin hosts SNL in two minutes flat.

"Quantum Of Solace" Headed for $70M Opening Weekend

The latest James Bond film is now estimated to have scored $27M on Friday and another $27M on Saturday. Sony is predicting over $70M for Quantum of Solace opening weekend making Quantum of Solace the biggest Bond opening, easily beating the $40M for Casino Royale and the $47M for Die Another Day.

Robot Chicken Star Wars II

Coming November 16th...
The Emporer

Darth Vader

Lando

Boba Fett

Wilco Performs New Song on Colbert Nation

"Wilco the Song" - exclusive Wilco performance on Colbert Nation.

Delicious whale parts explained?

Photo of an odd (and disturbing) whale diagram found in a Japanese shop. (Source: www.flickr.com/photos/evdg/299265486/.)

McCain Opening on Saturday Night Live

Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin (Tina Fey) address the nation on QVC, and help sell political merchandise including this charming "Palin in 2012" t-shirt. Cindy McCain also makes a short cameo to help McCain show their fine gold jewelry.

Four Ideas to Save the Economy

The Washington Post asked four business executives how to save the economy. Here are the four ideas the executives came up with:

1. Full nationalization of Fannie and Freddie. (Carl Goldsmith, chief investment officer of Berkeley Capital Management)
2. Suspend worker Social Security contributions to encourage growth through consumer spending. (Dimitri Papadimitriou, president of the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College)
3. Suspend state sales taxes, with the federal government picking up the tab. (Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Boston University economics professor)
4. Lenders must renegotiate mortgage terms when prices in their area fall more than 20 percent. (Luigi Zingales, University of Chicago economist)

Source: What's the Big Idea

New "Valkyrie" Trailer

MGM has released the latest theatrical trailer for the upcoming film Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise.



After initially being postponed until February 2009, Valkyrie is now scheduled to open December 26.

McCain to Appear on Saturday Night Live

McCain is rumored to be appearing on SNL this weekend. McCain already appeared on SNL in May of this year, and he even hosted SNL back in 2002.

Millionaire Banker Wins Lottery

A multi-millionaire banker from London is the first winner of the "$1 Million a Year for Life" lottery in New York. Problem is, he already has plenty of money. According to the NY Post

"Is it going to materially change my life? No," he told The Post. "I have been a very blessed and fortunate person."....

"Don't get me wrong, no matter how rich anyone is, a million a year is a lot of money," he said. "But I don't expect this to change my life very much at all."

And due to tax treaties, Mr. Altunis won't owe any substantial taxes in either the U.S. or in Britain:

Since he lives in Britain, Altunis, an executive at the European banking firm Unicredit, will have to pay New York but not federal taxes on his winnings, which means he'll net $931,500 a year for the rest of his life.

Under a US treaty with Britain, income from lottery winnings and several other sources is not subject to taxation for British residents. Altunis is not an American citizen.

Most Anticipated Movies of 2009

In a survey of movie fans who purchased tickets at their website, MovieTickets.com rated the Top-10 Most Anticipated Films of 2009:

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
4. Public Enemies
5. Angels & Demons
6. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
7. The Informant
8. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
9. The Day the Earth Stood Still
10. The Taking of Pelham 123

The top three films among men were:

1. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
3. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian

And the top three films among women:

1. Angels & Demons
2. Public Enemies
3. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian

Jennifer Lopez Signs First-Look Deal with Universal TV

Universal Media Studios has signed producer-actress Jennifer Lopez and her company, Nuyorican Productions, which she runs with producing partner Simon Fields, to a two-year exclusive first-look television development deal.

The deal – aimed at creating a variety of different television series projects -- was announced today by Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. "Jennifer Lopez is a multi-faceted superstar and we are thrilled to be in business with her," said Silverman. "NBC has been fortunate to have worked with her previously with her music specials, and now this first-look deal gives us an opportunity to explore a variety of projects which will result in some outstanding television."

SNL - "Solid as Ba-Rock"

SNL fires up a new Barrack Obama skit. Senator Obama plays it safe and musical...

Yahoo Q3 Earnings Tomorrow

Yahoo announces Q3 earnings tomorrow for what is expected to be a disappointing quarter for the Internet giant. Analysts, bloggers and reporters (led by former Internet stock analyst Henry Blodget) have recently been highly critical of Yahoo.

Yahoo is expected to announce layoffs of somewhere between 1,500 and 3,000 employees at all levels.

CEO Jerry Yang also has to answer questions about the status of the AOL negotiations, the declining stock performance, the failure of Microsoft merger, and the general malaise of the company.

Sarah Palin on SNL

Sarah Palin appeared on the SNL open and in a Weekend Update segment. Full videos from NBC.com below.

The best lines of the evening:

• Lorne Michaels: "Honestly, not enough people know that show [30 Rock]."
• Alec Baldwin: "I see," he said. "Forgive me, I feel I must say this: You are way hotter in person."
• Tina Fey: "What? The real one? By-uh!"

And of course, the moose.

Tonight's SNL will include Sarah Palin and Mark Wahlberg

According to Nikki Finke's blog Deadline Hollywood Daily, tonight's SNL will feature an amazing celebrity collection of Sarah Palin, Oliver Stone, Mark Wahlberg, and Josh Brolin. Will Palin and Wahlberg get revenge for the recent spoofs?

More Scandals at the IMF

According to the Wall Street Journal, the scandals continue at the
International Monetary Fund.

The International Monetary Fund has launched an investigation into whether its chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, abused his position in connection with a sexual relationship with a subordinate, in a case that could roil a key global institution at a crucial moment in the world financial crisis.

The IMF investigation concerns Mr. Strauss-Kahn's relationship with Hungarian-raised Piroska Nagy, at the time a senior official in the IMF's Africa department. According to several individuals familiar with the matter, Mr. Strauss-Kahn in December 2007 began approaching Ms. Nagy, who is married, for an affair. The two exchanged emails about a possible intimate relationship, which these people said commenced early this year during a conference in Europe.

Shortly afterward, Ms. Nagy's husband, Mario Blejer -- a prominent Argentine-born economist who has worked at the IMF, the Central Bank of Argentina and the Bank of England -- found email evidence of the affair, they said, and the relationship apparently ended. Mr. Blejer and his wife hoped to keep the incident quiet while they worked out their problems, said several individuals with knowledge of the incident.

The investigation comes only a year after the president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, resigned amid accusations of favoritism to a World Bank employee with whom he had a long-standing relationship.

Trailer for "Role Models"

New comedy in theaters, November 7th.

Congratulations Taxpayers, You Now Own Part of Your Bank

The WSJ reports that the U.S. government is taking equity stakes in nine U.S. financial institutions: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, and Merrill Lynch.

According to the WSJ:

Some of the big banks were unhappy about the government taking equity stakes, but acquiesced under pressure from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a meeting Monday. During the financial crisis, the government has steadily increased its involvement in financial markets, culminating with a move that rivals the breadth of the government's response to the Great Depression. It intertwines the banking sector with the federal government for years to come and gives taxpayers a direct stake in the future of American finance, including any possible losses.

The government will purchase preferred stock, an equity investment designed to avoid hurting existing shareholders and deterring new ones. Such shares typically don't come with voting rights. They will carry a 5% annual dividend that rises to 9% after five years, according to a person familiar with the matter. By investing in several big firms at once, the government hopes to avoid placing a stigma on any one firm for getting government help.

One question immediately jumps out -- why don't taxpayers get voting rights?

Can John McCain Still Win?

The latest Washington Post/ABC poll shows Obama leading McCain by 10 points (53 percent to 43 percent among likely voters). With polls showing this strong a lead for Obama, Salon.com asks the question of how McCain/Palin might still win the election next month...

Salon.com lists four factors that might still lead to a McCain win:

• The volatile voter -- voters can change their mind up until the last minute
• The October surprise -- an economic or foreign-policy surprise might benefit McCain
• Another McCain dice roll -- a dramatic gambit
• Know when to fold them -- a perfect selection by the McCain campaign of the key battleground states

The most interesting suggestion is that perhaps McCain will publicly attack the presidency of George W. Bush, certainly a risky move with the Republican base.