Freyburg

Ok, these cats are pretty danged geeky, but how can you not like the enthused do-goodery of Shadow Hare? (Plus the cop cracking up at the 1:30 mark is pretty priceless).

In addition to running around filming the day’s events at Microsoft Tech Days, I also had a chance to film a swearing in ceremony for Joey Devilla, who just finished his probationary period at Microsoft, and is now in his words a “Sith Lord.”

Bon vivant and wit-slinger Stephen Fry isn’t just a first-rate writer and performer…he’s also a complete and total nerd, with a love for gadgetry and computers that knows no bounds. He’s just recorded a salute to free software and doffed his cap to the many and various people who have contributed to the free software movement.

Unfortunately, as with many things Linux/GNU/etc, free doesn’t mean “user friendly.” There’s no easy way to embed the video using the open source Flash encoder provided my the GNU nerds (or at least, they haven’t set u the video to do so), so I have to embed the Youtube version, seen below. If you want to see a much nicer looking version of the video, go here.

One of the worst things about Youtube is the sheer volume of “tribute” videos and other such poorly edited codswallop that gets in the way of searching for a clip of, say, Doctor Who. But amongst the junk there are a few gems, including this mashup of the interminable flight sequences from “Time Flight” with James Bond and the Death Star (amongst other wackiness):

Then there’s this bit of remixery which makes a complete hash of the Five Doctors in brilliant fashion:

Part 1:

and Part 2:

Just lovely.

My usual grab bag of indignant headline plucking and nerd rants seems to have flagged a little bit of late, so in order to remedy this crime, here’s a grab bag of awesome web videos aimed at gamers that bring the funny in a big way.

First up is “Hey Ash, Whatcha Playing“, which is super lo-fi and a barrel full of laughs.

Next is Zero Punctuation, which is some beautiful British sarcasm that rips the gaming industry and its many cliches to shreds…

and lastly, here’s a tribute to gratuitous headshots.

This time by mashing up animated Star Trek and the blaxploitation classic “Truck Turner.”

Cartoon hilarity as William Shatner belts out “Common People.” Heh.

Classic Trek and flatulence….a winning combo.

….and not a moment too soon. Heather Mallick points out that the ultimate “girlie” movie is less about female liberation than about rampant consumerism and empty, shallow competition to secure a rich husband. I can’t possibly match Mallick’s lovely bile, so check out her article yourself. She also name-checks and quotes professional misanthrope Toby Young’s post about the SATC movie, which is OK by me. Time Out New York also points to the movie as unleashing a new wave of douchification on unsuspecting NY neighbourhoods, and how the show created the creature known as Julia Allison.

I for one will probably never see the SATC movie, but my sympathies go out to all those dragged to the film by a significant other. That just ain’t fair, and I recommend dragging that significant other to as crappy a revenge flick as possible. One of the Saw movies should do the trick.

Yes, if you’ve ever said to yourself “you know what would be awesome? To be badass rapper 50 Cent in a video game, battling terrorists in the Middle East to a hip-hop beat!” (and I know you have)…well, you’ll get your chance soon. I know I’m throwing my copy of GTA IV out the window and eagerly awaiting the next stage in interactive entertainment, as seen below: