[VIDEO] Kids used to tap dance for fun.

I have loved the rhythm action games right from the start, Athletic games, right through Bemani to Dance Dance Revolution - kids used to tap dance back in the day and it has come right back around thanks to video games....visible noise.



and another




I remember seeing someone doing some amazing dance moves with dance dance revolution.

[VIDEO] Extreme Skateboarder vs a Car

So, having just said that my blog will have nothing to do with skateboarding 'n' stuff, here is another excerpt from the BBC's TOP GEAR.

[WEB LINK] NASA Beauty

Astronomy Picure of the Day, visit it daily to see all that the universe has to offer.

[WEB LINKS] UK Chart search engine

Very UK orientated chart search engine. Great for sitting on iTunes shop and building a mix tape from the week of your 13th birtday!

UK Charts

Would love a US version!?

[WEB LINK] World Map by Population

Map of the world with the country sizes adjusted according to the population.



I was surprised by the size of India!

Original Image.

[WEB LINK] Office Attachments

Yahoo UK long ago started this weekly list of email attachments....there is always a little gem hidden in there.

[VIDEO] Playstation 3 Metal Gear Solid 4

In trying to have a blog that will appeal to everyone and not just some narrow group like skateboarders who like fluffy pics of animals, I realise now that I have slipped into "Game Fan who likes to rant" mode.

OH THE LINK....Here ya go.



See also... (1h 49m)

[VIDEO] 80s Atari Animated Pop Video

80's Atari style Pop Video using 80s atari style sounds! This is amazing. I just don't know what to call it.



For more info goto lobo.cx, click on english then LOBO REEL. BIG customers. If you visit one website today, make it theirs!

[WEB LINKS] The 50 greatest gadgets

The 50 greatest gadgets of the last 50 years.

[WEB LINKS] Movies - sort the wheat from the chaff!

I love METACRITIC. It takes the opinions of most of the US newspaper movie reviewers and creates an AVERAGE score for a movie. You also get to see how it scored with the Users. It has helped me pick a few hum dingers for my NetFlix Queue.

See also...Rotten Tomatoes

[WEB LINKS] Jay for Web Games

Jay has the best site for online games. He lists, reviews, ranks and recommends fabulous online games (those little games that you just want to pass a few minutes with).

See also...
Orisinal
and
Tea Games
and
Kitty Games (you need a real mouse for these - not a touchpad - you know what I mean! I didn't mean a squeak squeak type of mouse...oh...) Just pick one and play it!

[RANT] I have just lost my hard drive!

A few days ago my external hard drive was brought crashing to the floor by a cat. It was my fault for stringing the power wire across a pathway but that doesnt matter now. It feels like I have lost a member of the family. The drive contained 120 gigs of info, including all of my music (10,000 songs! CDs all in England...time spent ripping and naming each track....AAaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!) all of the photos from my daughters first 4 years of life (1000s and 1000s! - She will kill us when she gets older!) and lots of other important stuff.

It is making beeping and grating noises and it is DEFINITELY knackered!

Having gotten over the initial grief we started to try to recover some data. First we called some of the "clean room" firms who can take the drive apart, rebuilt it with new parts and try to recover as much of the data as possible. This turned out to be a pricey option with no guarantee of success. They will inspect it for free, supply you with a list of recoverable files and a price, which could be anything from $700 to $2400.

MUSIC: You can get the music BACK off your iPod! So most of the music is saved.

PHOTOS: We sent lots to family with us being split across the Atlantic so most of the really superb photos will be on someones computer somewhere.

OTHER STUFF: Ah well, does good to have a good clear out every once in a while and I would rather leave it at that! I don't want to think about what I have lost.

[WEB LINK] Another Classic HOT OR NOT!

It is one of those sites where you just want to leave but you can't!

HotOrNot

[VIDEO] American 80s TV Ads

Relive those halcyon days!

Check out the Pringles add with the "the flavor of the deep fried taste"

[WEB LINK] Delicous, one of the webs best kept secrets!

Why keep your favourite bookmarks on one PC. Store them on the Web, access them from anywhere and help track popular sites!

Del.icio.us, currently a bit of a haunt for geeks but as it gets bigger it will be fabulous.

[WEB LINK] Cuteness

This one is for my wife...CuteOverload.

Favourites...
Can't Talk, Sleeping
and
Chipdonkulous

[WEB LINKS] Create a T-Shirt

Threadless is another one of those Fab ideas that are made possible by technology. Just go to the site and see what I mean!

[WEB LINK} Flikr Explore

Flikr is Yahoo!s online picture album service but it allows you to share with the world... Post Katrina this is where we went for the REAL images.

Flikr Explore is a "best of", it groups photos together in all kinds of categories, with slideshow options galore it is fabulous.

[WEB LINK] Post Secret

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

[VIDEO] Poop Today

I like creative people, like these guys....

All they did was remove some frames but such cool imagination to come up with it and see it through! KUDOS!

[VIDEO] Ghostly Car Ad !?

OK, I am just going to quote the video's blurb before the link....

Hey Folks,
This one is really wild, but make sure you read the info below before you view the video and turn up the volume if you can. This is a car advertisement from Great Britain. When they finished filming the ad, the film editor noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist. They found out that a person had been killed a year earlier in that exact same spot. The ad was never put on TV because of the unexplained ghostly phenomenon.

Watch the front end of the car closely as it clears the trees in the middle of the screen and you'll see the white mist crossing in front of the car then following it along the road....Spooky!

Is it a ghost, or is it simply mist? You decide. If you listen to the ad, you'll even hear the cameraman whispering in the background about it near the end of the commercial. A little creepy but it seems to be authentic!

GO TO THE VIDEO

[VIDEO] The infamous POWERS OF 10

I remember this "Powers of 10" video from my youth, wish it was better quality!

I notice that this one has been taken off Google video so here are some other sources...

Sharp not blocky but with a logo in the corner

Celebrate powers of 10 day on the 10th of the 10th!

A modern web based recreation/interpretation.

Poorer quality versions without a logo...

Rather fuzzy version and a sharper version but blocky!

[VIDEO] Parental Warning

Not suitable for minors!

Weird, odd and funny

[VIDEO] Matrix Pong

I want my own TV channel, I want my own TV channel!

Seriously! Is there someone out there in TV land who wants someone to fill a few hours of night-time TV with wonderful STUFF!

[WEB LINKS] Weird Food from Weight Watchers 1970s

My wife was sent a fablulous link by her friend in Canada and I had to share it...

Weight watchers recipe cards from 1974!

Read the background here...

We nearly died going through those, so I was obviously shocked to find that there is a modern day version almost as hideous...the company cookbook!!!!

[WEB LINK] Toys of my youth!

Amazing how the internet can activate a sense memory from your youth!

I was reading through cream TVs recent article 100 greatest toys when number 86 activated a sense memory, I remember picking up those pieces with the blob on their tops.


Or was it Clue(do)?!?!?

[WEB LINK] Yahoo Answers!

Cool new feature over at Yahoo!

Yahoo Answers

You can ask a question and get answers from the WWW or look to see if someone has already asked a similar question and what answers they have received....

I had to have a go straight away, as an information provider of course!

Why do the original (thick) Playstation 2 tend to stop reading the PS2 (reflective back) disks after awhile?

[GREAT LINKS] Half Bakery

Half Bakery is a communal database of original, fictitious inventions. It was created by people who like to speculate, both as a form of satire and as a form of creative expression.

[VIDEO] Arrested Development

The hilariously smart, multi award winning, Arrested Development
is a FABULOUS show, unfortunately FOX has axed it because they have no idea how to market it. Get in into your NETFLIX queue

[VIDEO] How to eat Sushi in Japan

How to eat Sushi in Japan.

Not really!

[VIDEO] Ad for Atari Pole Position 1980s USA

I love old atari ads.

[VIDEO] Japanese Game Shows

Japanese Game Shows can very very cruel and very dangerous...

Compressed Air Jetpack

So can American Edutainment

[VIDEO] Electric Fruits

I always knew fruits could generate electricity but I never knew the pickle could do this! (It must be the vinegar)

pickle bulb.

[VIDEOs] The human body and brain, a wonderfully adaptable combination...

What a great thing our body is, our brain can completely rewire itself and can be focussed to specialise on any activity we choose. It is amazing, the computational power required just ot catch a ball in flight is staggering, 3-d identification in realtime, calculation of gravity, calculation of wind, observation of characteristics of air (alitude) and we just "catch it".

Some videos of how amazing humans can be when they focus their abilities on one thing.. in this case movement...

www.teamryouko.com
Cheerleaders
Bendy
Robots
Hockey ball and stick
Hip Hop

NEW ADDITIONS
Russian climbing

American version (not as good)

[VIDEO] One of the many reasons why Football (Soccer) is the best game in the world.

Nike are always making custom shoes for their athletes and Football (the game where you kick the BALL around with your FEET) is no exception. Here is one of the worlds top players, Ronaldinho of Brazil, accepting some new GOLD boots.

He is standing in ONE SPOT, kicking the ball at full power about 20 yards into a chain fence and it is coming RIGHT BACK TO HIM!!!!

[VIDEO] According to Americans small cars are not safe

Mercedes TINY Smart car in a 70 MPH Concrete slab crash test

This is another British TV programme for my late night TV Schedule. I am presuming this is Tiff "Needles" Needell on his spin off from BBCs Top Gear, this is Channel 5's Fifth Gear

[VIDEO]JerryC

I am no Gi'tar fan but I enjoy hearing it played well, this kid just ROCKS out on Pachelbel's Canon. He deserves a decent manager and a Recording Contract!

Rock Cannon by JerryC (UK) (Taiwan).



Somebody give this guy a BIG contract!

[GREAT LINKS] Netflix

NETFLIX is AMAZING, if you love movies but hate movie rental places then NETFLIX is for you! For the price of two movie tickets a month you get access to 50,000 DVDs. And you can teach it what you like so that it can recommend movies to you. You can then watch the trailers ONLINE and add them to your queue. When you post a disc back they post out the next one on your list.

Take the FREE trial, you will never look back!

[VIDEO] How 9 year old Americans speak to their moms

OK, for those of you who don't know how online gaming on the XBOX works...You have a headset so you can talk to other people in the game, say, members of your squad. You go up against another squad. The opponent players can hear you talking when you get close, some games even attempt basic lip syncing. This guy overhears a kid who is playing the game with his microphone "open", argueing with his mom. To me it is not a "funny" video, more wierd to hear how a 9 year old american boy talks to his mom in private!

9 year old chews his mom out

You can tell the kid is half concentrating and fires the odd shot at his opponent, do you hear him fire in rhythm with his ranting shouts? Sheesh!

[VIDEO] Never Mix Mentos and Soda!

This really doesnt surprise me....

[VIDEO] Ariel Atom - fast cheap and fun! and now in the USA

ARIEL ATOM

A clip from the BBCs Top Gear, one of the many British shows I would add to my late night schedule. The little Ariel Atom(version 2 in the USA), a car stripped down to its bones but still street legal. At top speed it can almost strip YOU down to your bones, watch it try to pull Jeremy's face off!

[VIDEO] Dumbest Dog you will EVER See!

Dogs are protective of their bones but this one takes it a little too far!

WATCH IT!

[VIDEO] Merry Christmas Lights Everybody!

These have to be the best Christmas Lights EVER!

I wish I had the nightime slot at a local Austin TV channel to fill, it would be excellent!

[GREAT LINKS] I Wish I had bought Google

I remember a call back early in 2000 when I was living in England, a fellow programmer called to tell me about a new search engine (sad I know - hi Brian!), it was Google and it was amazing... I wish I had bought stock!!

For those of you who have not found some of Googles most impressive products (unlikely I know but I like to be completist!) here are two to whet your appetite...

Google Video : The future of TV, worldwide, no barriers to broadcast, no barriers to talent, it will always rise to the top... I will be picking the best of the bunch and dropping them on here!

Google Earth : An install, but the best thing you will ever install on your PC GUARANTEED! Educational, Inspiring, Beautiful...

It goes without saying that these all require a FAST internet connection.

[COMMENT] A Gentle Introduction

Hi, I am a Brit! In Austin! hence the name!

"This blog is a mish-mash of my observations of modern day American life as viewed by an outsider. I will add anything I find of interest both in Austin and here on the Internet for you to peruse, some of it you will have seen or observed yourself, some of it you will not."

That bit in quotes was my original idea for the blog, I have since found that it is better to split the fun from the serious so this is my fun blog and my serious blog is now elswhere!

Anywhoo.. come in and stay a while, welcome to my parlour.

BritInAustin