ChasingLilly.net

There are some other projects happening at the moment here in the [tentatively titled] Super Best Friends group. Personally I am working on a new homepage for chasinglilly.net, which at the moment is disgusting. I am also working on a solo album, which so far has a total of zero finished tracks. As a group we are working on a revamped, more professional version of the McGrimmy’s, as well as a few spoof movie trailers. The movie series’ we’re going to make fun of with the trailers include National Treasure and Twilight. Will and I recently started writing a script for the National Treasure trailer, “National Treasure 3: Book of Secrets 2″.

It’s going to be great! And though the script isn’t finished yet, I got carried away and started making graphics for it. So below is a still frame of what the Nicolas Cage credit may look like. It’s based mainly on what I thought the credits in the past two movies’ trailers looked like, and it was made completely in After Effects. (click to enlarge)

Obviously it’s not done, but it looks much better in motion. Though the font annoys me a bit… Or maybe it’s just what the font says. Either way, the trailer’s gonna be awesome. So get ready…! Well don’t get ready too soon, we’re still in the scripting phase.



Happy Trails,

Sam.

More specifically, let’s talk the volcano eruption in Iceland. I assume you’ve all heard of it, it’s caused mayhem for airlines and people waiting to go anywhere, though they did start up air travel again. In fact, due to the volcano, Jim Groom won’t even be able to complete his much-anticipated plans to take an epic journey to Svalbard, Norway and fight polar bears!



What some of you may not know is the name of the volcano (or rather glacier above the volcano, in this case). I want you all to stop reading this post, find a piece of paper, and try to write down (with correct spelling!) the name. … Alright, are you done? Good. Look back up at your screen now. If you wrote “Eyjafjallajökull,” you’re correct! Yeah, it’s a mouth-full. But now we come to the bigger problem: how do you pronounce it? Look at it and try it. Eyjafjallajökull. In fact, it would be great if you all could try it, record it, and leave a link in the comments so I can laugh at you! And yes, thanks to YouTube I know how to spell and pronounce it! It only took my and my roommate 30 minutes the other night!

Most newscasters don’t even attempt pronouncing it, simply calling it “that volcano,” “the volcano in iceland,” or something of the sort. But when they do try, it’s pretty funny! Interestingly, even the Wikipedia pronunciation at the beginning of this first video is party wrong.

Or you could just watch these two ladies fail.



It’s an Icelandic word that literally means “island (eyja) mountain (fjall) glacier (jökull)”. You language-buffs may like to know that fjall is where the English word fell comes from, as in a mountain or hill. Yeah, leave it to them Vikings to make things unnecessarily hard. And just cause they can. The closest way to pronounce it I can think of using random English words is to say “heya fee-yacht-lie you-gut-th” (and say fee-yacht quickly). There’s a good example here. Or you could listen to this awesome Icelandic musician explain it live on tv!

If you were wondering: yes, that song will get stuck in your head. Enjoy! and I hope you’ve learned a little something about Iceland, your lack of language-skills, and the world at large!

Happy Trails and Namaste,
Sam.

My latest video for the “Samuel Michaels” digital story is still processing on YouTube, so I thought I’d take the extra time and write a post on some cool information on recent happenings. Now onto… Chatroulette!

I’m sure nearly every one of you who is reading this has heard of the little internet phenomenon known as “Chatroulette“. For those of you who don’t, Chatroulette is basically a website where you video chat with random people throughout the world. The site pairs you with someone, then you click “Next” to move on once you are either bored, confused, or (most likely) grossed out by the other person. It’s very popular among some colleges, 16 year old girls, Germans, and perverts. Most of you have also probably heard the stereotype that Chatroulette is filled with… well… genitalia. I’ve heard many people say it, my friend yesterday told me the site disturbed her, and Jim Groom even commented one class that he was amazed at how many naked people there are on the site. To be honest, I didn’t really believe it. I thought it was just another over generalization about a popular internet site. So of course I had to see for myself!

I can now confirm after using it myself very briefly that this stereotype is absolutely 100% true. Beyond that, I would strongly suggest that you don’t go check it out for yourself, unless you enjoy male genitalia being stuffed in your face literally every third click. Please take our and the rest of the internets’ word on this one. However, I seem to have done the impossible. I made a friend on Chatroulette. Yes. That’s right. I created a legitimate relationship with a normal human being on Chatroulette. In between all the awkward pervert-looking people, overly-contrasted faces in dark rooms, and guys “laying” on their beds, I ran into a really nice girl from Germany. And after a very lengthy translator-assisted conversation even agreed to friend eachother on Facebook. I feel like this should go down as a major turning point in the history of mankind or something.

This is proof that there is a small hope for decency on these mostly creeper-ridden chat websites that are becoming so popular. And I can’t help but hope that interactions such as these are what the sites were originally intended to create. We don’t live in a world where friendships are limited by how far we can walk in a day, we live in the modern age of internet and social media. Despite this hope, it seems as though the perverts will always overrun these sites. It’s because of them that you won’t ever see my face pop up on your Chatroulette screen again. Maybe if stronger blocking/reporting was added to the site. But I’m not gonna hold my breath.

Have any of you ever actually made a friend on Chatroulette or any site like it? I want to know! Leave a comment…



Happy Trails,

Sam.



Addition:
I should probably explain the stereotypes I mentioned earlier. Those being that Chatroulette is popular among 16 year old girls, Germans, and perverts. I say that because consistently I ran into 16 year old girls who said they lived Germany. I don’t know if I just happened to be placed on a server with a bunch of Germans or if Germans just love Chatroulette, but that’s what happened. Also every single German I saw was eating M&Ms. Dunno if it has any significance, but maybe we should add it to The Stereotype List. Oh and why did I say perverts? Well that one should be obvious.

**UPDATE** — Apple has just released new information on their NEXT big product set to release a few months after the Apple iPad is released! More details after the story.

So do any of you guys remember the Apple iPad? Yeah, it was that thing unveiled this past Wednesday during the State of the Union address. No, not that random address the President gave, the important address that Steve Jobs gave on the State of the Apple Mobile Union. When Jobs took the cloth off the marvelous machine near the beginning of the event our minds were completely blown! Never before had a tablet-esque computer had such a simple interface, such little memory, or such a lack of multi-task capabilities. Oh, did I also mention that it has the phenomenal ability to run iPhone-resolution apps? To add on to all of this, the video event revealed (perhaps most importantly of all!) that the iPad includes “the most beautiful ruler you’ve ever seen in an application”! (click image to enlarge)

Of course, I gotta give Apple some credit: I dare you to look at the above image and tell me that the iPad’s isn’t innovative. Never before has the world seen anything like this! See how applications appear as small icons which are laid out over multiple screens which you can flip through? Or how there are four main apps at the bottom of the screen? Or even how there is a “Home” button on the device which you can press at any time to exit an application and return to the app-screen? This is crazy stuff we’re dealing with, guys! It’s pretty innovative, and I’m actually truly amazed that no one thought of this exact concept and layout earlier, say in 2007 or something.

**UPDATE**

It appears that Apple’s “magical and revolutionary device,” more commonly known as just “the iPad,” is already going to be yesterday’s news! Constantly stretching the limits of innovation, and always one step ahead, Apple has just released the first information on their next big product set to release a few months after the iPad. It’s called *drum roll, please* the Apple iPad nano! (click image to enlarge)

This Apple product is obviously following in the iPad-tradition of being incredibly ground-breaking and fresh. This small device somehow holds as much memory as the obviously-bigger-and-perhaps-expectedly-capable-of-holding-more-memory iPad. Not only that, but it can also play the same apps and games as the once-again-expectedly-more-capable iPad, which in turn runs the same apps and games as the expectedly-less-powerful iPhone/iPod touch. (click image to enlarge)

I gotta be honest: Apple is having a stunning week. Just as with the iPad before it, nothing can really compare to the iPad nano. Not that some people won’t try. Sadly, there will be the naysayers and Apple-hating quacks out there who will make ridiculous claims such as “the iPad nano isn’t innovative at all, it’s just a smaller iPad.” But, of course, these will likely be the same crazies who made such obviously false claims this Wednesday that: “This is the big Apple tablet computer reveal? The iPad isn’t innovative or new in the least, it’s just a huge iPhone/iPod touch. It doesn’t really bring anything new to the table.” *Sigh* For some people, ignorance truly is bliss…

Happy Trails,

Sam.