Tales from the Afternow

Here is an interesting radio-play type project, created by Sean Kennedy. There are several MP3s, supposedly broadcast from some time in the near but post-apocalyptic future. I've only listened to a few so far, but I'm probably going to hit the whole thing before too long.

Paranoid US: Nike - Here I Am

Here is an ad that is as strange as it is well put together. The body parts of a runner communicate in this weird mix of CG and composited live-action elements. So intriguing. Well worth a couple minutes of your time. Happy Halloween.

Squirrel Underpants

Here's a site where you can buy squirrel underpants. They look like little tiny tighty-whities. I'm sure there are some "nuts" puns in there, but I just don't have it in me to let them out. I feature a lot of sites that have products that aren't actually for sale, but as far as I can tell, you can really buy these. If you want.

Portable Rotary Phone

The description for this one comes from the site itself:

Description: The infamous Portable Rotary Phone is an original rotary phone that has been modified to be a cellular phone. The Port-O-Rotary has a functional rotary dial, rings the original, loud metallic bells when a call is received, and even has a dial tone.

Couldn't put it in your pocket, but that doesn't mean it's not stylish. Thanks to Morgen for the link.

Down For Everyone or Just Me

And incredibly useful and simple utility site that I can't believe I haven't heard of before. Down For Everyone or Just Me lets you enter a url and checks itself, that way you can see if the site you're checking is down to the whole world or if it's a problem that is specific to you. Everything I could think of was either up, or made up, but I plan to use this next time one of the sites I frequent goes down.

Hotel 626

Here is a creepy web-game brought to you by...Doritos? It does a great job of being creepy, and the snack is never mentioned in the game aside from a small logo in the lower right corner. There are also some cool reality based things going on in the game. Aside from the standard mouse input, there is one level requires you to use a webcam, and another asks you to sing into a microphone. The final one calls you on your phone for an even more surreal experience. In time for Halloween and definitely worth a few minutes of your time.

PG Porn

James Gunn's (director of Slither) new project. This is a web series that puts actors across from porn stars in situations that would normally lead up to steamy encounters in their XXX counterparts. Only one is up now, but it ends abruptly, and not in any sort of intamacy. I'm definitely looking forward to more. Fair warning: It doesn't feature explicit sex, but it's definitely stronger that PG.

Z-Rox

It's a flash game that gives you view a letter or shape, but you have to view it as it slides past a very thin window. If you can do this and correctly enter whatever is being viewed, then you can get to the next level. I was able to get up to 33. If you can get farther, let me know how! This link is also thanks to Dave.

Web Urbanist

The tagline for this blog is Urban Street Art, Abandoned Places and Amazing Designs, it I'd say it lives up to its name. When I checked the front page it covered everything from crazy tables to ghost towns to artistic cakes. Lots of cool stuff to see here. Thanks to Morgen for the link.

Palin As President

Here's some more topical political humor at the expense of the easiest punching bag involved in the current presidential election. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve it, it's just that it sometimes seems too easy. Fortunately this site does a lot of funny things in a really slick and interactive way. Exploration yields many jokes.

Upside Down Dogs

Here's another site with a very self-explanatory URL. People post pictures of their dogs laying on their backs with their heads on the ground, just flipped over. Weird how much gravity takes over. A lot of extra skin on those dogs. Thanks to Dave for the link, and for those of you who can't get enough of looking at dogs on the internet, here's a bonus video:

It's about time to wind this thing down.

You dozen loyal readers may have noticed that I missed posting for the entirety of last week. It turns out that these days I'm just too busy to keep up a daily schedule. I'm not disappearing right away, though. I'll be posting daily until the end of the year, which is when I will hang it up. After that I'll be blogging is some other incarnation, but nothing with so a set schedule. More on that when it's time. If you come across any awesome links before the first, please send them my way so I can send this thing out in style.

Mash SF

These bikers seem heavy on speed, light on brakes, and huge on balls. Check out their vids of them riding through traffic at breakneck speeds. I haven't checked out the site too much, but from their videos it looks like there may be a documentary in the works. At the very least they've got some extremely gutsy riding catalogued in short clips.

Cats That Look Like Hitler

Here is a place that collects pictures of cats that look like Hitler. I had no idea there were so many, but it seems that there are lots and lots of kitties out there with coloring that suggests a small, square mustache. Kitlers, they are known as. Definitely worth a browse.

Balloon String

So in this one a ball is tethered to your mouse by an elastic string, sort of like the way a paddle-ball is attached to a paddle. The goal is to click the ball. It's kind of fun. Thanks to Dave for the link.

I Wanna Be The Guy

This is a retro-styled game that is incredibly difficult. The creators themselves admit that they wanted the game to be "nail-rippingly difficult," and is filled with many "sadistic deathtraps." Seriously, though, this is really hard. I downloaded the demo and gave up after about 6 minutes. Let me know if you have better luck.

Notorious MSG

Here's a gangster rap group that purports to be straight out of Chinatown. The beats are good, the English is broken and the whole thing is polished and entertaining. Just because stereotypes are perpetuated doesn't mean that it's not a pretty funny novelty act.

White Gold is White Gold

Here is a viral campaign launched by the California Milk Processor Board to promote milk. It features an awesome rocker named White Gold and his band rocking songs about how great milk is. Songs include "One Gallon Axe," "Tame the White Tiger," and "Is it me, or do you love my hair." Reportedly they were cowritten by Electric 6, one of the most rocking bands ever. Check it out! Thanks to Bryan for the link.

Flash Fabrica - Brain

Here's a game that's written in Japanese but simple enough to figure out anyway, and fun enough to waste a few moments on. Each level will flash a few numbers for a brief second. Then the numbers are replaced by circles and you have to order them based on what you were able to glimpse. Kinda fun.

Am I Annoying?

It's sort of like hot or not, but for celebrities and instead of rating attractiveness it rates how annoying the people are. Osama Bin Laden currently ranks as most annoying and James Gandolfini rates as least annoying. Random voting is allowed, and there are tons of public figures, many of whom are so obscure I've never heard of them. If you find someone annoying, good chance they're in here.

Custom My Little Ponies

Here are some custom my little ponies made to look like figures from popular culture. Included are My Little Joker, My Little Alucard Hellsing, and My Little Alien, which is my favorite. Thanks to Angie for the link.

The Holy Church of Bacon

If you more than just like bacon, but instead really love the stuff, you may have found your new church. The Holy Church of Bacon website offers info about bacon ("endowed to mankind from pigs"), info about the church (you can graduate from "Baconic Novice" to "Baconic Fryer.") and all kinds of info about applying Baconism to your life. Thank you to Reverend Jeremy for this one. (He's a real reverend, but not of the bacon church.)

Tex Murphy Radio Theater

So, if you are like me, a huge fan of the Tex Murphy series of games, then this may interest you. In these brief episodic mp3s, Chris Jones reprises his role as Tex Murphy, hardboiled PI in the near, post-apocalyptic future, and the star of Under a Killing Moon, The Pandora Directive and Overseer. They are incredibly well produced and remind me of some of the radio plays that were so popular in times gone by. Funny and interesting, but I will warn that there are only six episodes, with the story left hanging, so if you need closure, it might be best not to even start.

Spot the Fake Smile

Here you can see 20 video clips of people smiling. Some of them are real and some of them are fake. You only get to see each one once before making your guess as to which. Afterward you can see which ones were fake, which ones were real, and which ones you identified correctly. I was able to do 17/20. You? Thanks to Anirudh for the link.

Play With Spider

Here's another fairly amazing thing done with flash. The spider, seemingly in 3d, will follow your cursor, even as you adjust everything from its leg length to its walk bounce to its leg reach to even the angle you're viewing it from. Plus, hit space bar to drop some insects for it to run around and eat. Truly cool. Check it out.

Crappy Cat

Here is a really weird flash game. I'm not sure if it's even a game you can win. You just move a little eyepatch-and-dinner-jacket-wearing cat around a bizarre desert environment and odd things happen. Suicide Darth Vadars run at you with bombs strapped to you, weird creatures challenge you to ping pong with one of their eyes, and crappy cat drinks his weight in alcohol. It's well animated and cool.

Dickipedia

A Wiki of Dicks. Some of the latest dicks include Sean Hannity ("a Fred Flintstone lookalike"), Ted Stevens ("a notoriously pissy, out-of-touch drama queen and U.S. senator from Alaska"), and the Olympics ("a contest to see which country’s chemists can concoct the least-detectable performance-enhancing drugs"). Thanks to Morgen for the link, although he says Rachel deserves full credit.

Secondhand Storytime

Here's another personal one. Today I'm launching my new project, Secondhand Storytime. This is what I said on the site:

Sometimes a story is so interesting, so outlandish, or just so plain entertaining that people need to retell it. In these cases, the story will start to take on a life of its own as it’s passed along by people who had little to no involvement in the actual events being recounted. Here I aim to collect some of these in the form of a weekly podcast.

I hope you check it out and enjoy it.

screenclean.swf

All I know about this one is that its title is "screenclean.swf." That means it's flash, and I'm guessing it was intended to clean your screen. I find it oddly captivating.

Anti-Theft Lunch Bag

Communal refrigerators are always less than secure. I'm sure we've all left something in a fridge for later, either at work or in a shared apartment, only to have it eaten by the inconsiderate. Here's an ingenious design that will keep people from stealing your lunch.

Kermit - Bale

It seems that Kermit the Frog and Christian Bale have quite a few things in common. Someone took a lot of time to track down a lot of pictures of both to point out the similarities. I'm pretty impressed, actually. A lot of them match up very well. Check it out. Thanks to Angie for the link.

The Phobia List

Here's a huge list of different phobia names and their common language descriptions. Just the A's find such interesting fears as the fear of walking (Ambulophobia), fear of being single (Anuptaphobia), and the fear of flutes (Aulophobia). There are so many on the list, and so many things to be afraid of that I have just never thought of.

Ascii Matrix

Here is an interesting animation done completely in with ascii characters. Very simple and very cool. If you're a fan of the matrix, you'll recognize it instantly. If you've even seen the trailers it should at least look familiar.

Bonus: look in the comments for yesterday's post to see another site thoughtfully posted by a reader.

Has The Large Hadron Collider Destroyed The World Yet

A while back I posted some nice high resolution pictures of the Large Hadron Collider, the worlds largest particle accelerator. The machine itself was activated today, and some people were nervous that the science happening at the site could be so wild and new it might threaten the existence of the entire world. Today's link will tell you whether or not that has happened yet.

Suspicious Vans

I missed Monday and I'm not going to make it up, but as a Tuesday offering I bring you something special. SuspiciousVans.com is just like it sounds, a repository for suspicious vans. In the words of the site itself:

Leash your pets and small children; suspicious van can be found in even the safest cities. From the rape-wagons to the intravenous-drug-use vans to the parked-out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-for-no-reason VW buses, this site is an ode of respect, fear, and appreciation for them all.

Great galleries. Thanks to Morgen for the link.

Child Trader

I found this one by following a link from the Revenge Crabs site featured earlier this week. This one offers a service that lets you swap your child for another child. Each family ends up with the same number of children they started with, just different children. Of course, digging around the site reveals no way to actually sign up, but it's still pretty funny. So take a moment and visit the "nations 4th largest child exchange network."

How Not To Get Laid

This is a site that chronicles near near misses in the sexual realm. Sometimes the hookups don't happen for reasons are beyond the parties' control (curfews, hot water accidentally spilled in a lap, etc.) or by something that could have easily been avoided (poor hygiene!). There are lots of things that don't work cataloged, so you can either read for enjoyment, or pick up some pointers on what not to do. Enjoy.

Revenge Crabs

Impropriety week continues with a site that offers to sell you eggs for pubic lice. The idea, and they really push this home in a ton of examples, is that you should use those eggs to get revenge on someone who has wronged you. There is a lot of talk, but no actual way to order, much like yesterday's site. And speaking of, yesterday's site is linked to from this one. Same jokesters? My favorite part is the testimonial page, with some of the testimonials being from victims. Thanks to Morgen for the link.
NOTE:: there's a pic on the front page that's BARELY sfw. If you have conservative bosses who can see over your shoulder, wait until you get home to check this one out.

Doggy Condoms

Here is a site that offers to sell you Doggy Condoms. Billed as more humane than spaying or neutering the pets, this invites you to "keep your puppy peppering the powerful dog spunk that makes him who he is without the typical regret so often associated with humping mutt-style neighborhood bitches." The site walks a tonal line that makes it hard to tell if it's a joke or not, but the more I look at it, the more I'm sure it is. The more you look at it, the more I'm sure you will be, too. Thanks to Nick for the link.

VPILF

So I haven't had a theme week in a while, so I figured it's time. That means this week is impropriety week, kicking off with this gem. It features the Republican vice presidential nominee as well as news about her. A lot has been made of her looks and this site gathers that info, but as news of pregnant daughters and rumors of previous pregnancies flies around the internet, those things are collected here, too. Check it out.

Announcement

Hey, more news. Dave has been a great contributor to the site for the past few weeks, but now he's got to take a hiatus as the school year starts. Don't worry, links will still come, and we'll all celebrate when he returns. Until then feel free to send me any links you come across.

Sometimes Red, Sometimes Blue

Just like the name says. Super simple. Refresh and you may get a different color. It's a 50/50 chance.

Kung Fu Election

Here is a flash fighting game based on the candidates in this years presidential election. It's kind of like Mortal Kombat, with the the heads of public figures pasted on the bodies of the fighters. There's a wide variety of moves and plenty of violence. Check it out.

John McTaint

There are a lot of joke websites based on current national politics, but this is by far one of the funniest. It's main character is sort of a doddering old republican who offers everything from wild campaign promises (a barrel of light, sweet, crude oil for every legal American family) to a solution for both energy and immigration issues (undocumented green energy farms). There's even a chance to share in his experiences with "American Hero Camps." Well put together and funny.

Campus Violence Poster Project

The UCDA is a designer's association which recently held a poster contest using the theme school violence and taking submissions from around the world. The pieces were put in a show that traveled around US colleges and universities. Now that the show is over they have decided to put the pieces up for sale on eBay with all proceeds going to charity. There are tons to choose from so look through you mind find something you like.
The eBay link: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/ucdafoundation

Orange Label Design

This one isn't a whole link so much as an easter egg on the site. Go to this site, an extremely professional design site and look around. Very slick. Then notice the windows toolbar used as part of the banner for the icon design page, the page linked to from this post. Wacky. Thanks to Bryan for the link.

Warhammer Online

A follow up to Thursdays link; I bring you the opening cinematic to Warhammer online. Another MMO like World of Warcraft. Both were released about the same time so I thought I'd give you a good double header of CGI goodness.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Blizzard has always made stunning cinematics for their games. This latest, for the World of Warcraft expansion Wratch of the Lich King is no different. I'm not really into WOW, but I have to admit that this is some wickedly awesome CG by a studio that consistently does good work. There are rumors that this is a teaser and there is something even bigger things in the works for Blizzcon.

Warning Label Generator

I love dynamic image generators and this one is no different. Choose your layout, your warning logo and a brief message about what kind of caution you wish to impart and you're done. Couldn't be simpler. I'll be using this one a lot in the near future. Thanks to LS3D for the link.

Worst Album Covers ever

I love things so ugly you can't help but laugh and fall in love with it. This site has a list of hilariously terrible album covers.