Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category:
This is Live. No. Really. Sort of. (DaddyTube)
This video, of Hatsune Miku, a Japanese Vocaloid star (?), blew my mind. You have to watch long enough to really get the effect I got. I don’t want to spoil it but I will tell you that this is a live concert. Watch a bit of it. Hell, watch the whole thing, it’s under 3 minutes.
Did you see what I saw? Actual real-live musicians playing along with a hologram? In front of an audience of actual humans?
Wow. Just… wow.
On the one hand, it’s End Times stuff. But the technology behind it is fascinating. There is a Vocaloid Keytar! (Warning: the video is very strange and includes a person in a dinosaur suit, dancing.) It goes deep.
I haven’t found anything that indicates there are any English versions. However, listening to a couple of songs (literally a couple, I only checked out two, both by Hatsune Miku, who is not a real person but performs with a live band) I’ve decided that it isn’t as bad as some current pop music. Plus you don’t have to worry about lyrics like “brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack” because it’s mostly in Japanese.
Not too bad, right? I mean, for pop music. It depends on how you feel about that sort of thing.
Mostly it was seeing the real musicians performing alongside a hologram that freaked me out.
h/t to the folks who showed this to me, one of whom was Lucas Gonze and the other of whom was Tom.
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Enough With The Gorilla Thing
I’m calling it – enough with the Gorilla story.
What prompted me to write this? I suppose it’s because this is still a news story.
Parents of the boy who fell into gorilla enclosure will not face charges: https://t.co/12GlLAUrD3 pic.twitter.com/pPyN2Ny66Q
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 6, 2016
(Full disclosure: I sometimes write for The Daily Beast.)
Now: OF COURSE the parents won’t face charges! That would ridiculous. If for some reason the zoo didn’t have the proper fencing in place, that’s who would face charges. However, by all accounts that I’ve read, the zoo DID have the proper barriers up. Unfortunately, a small child got through them and landed in the gorilla’s area.
Here’s some video. It’s not that shocking but if you don’t want to see it for whatever reason, you’re not missing much, in part because half of it is blocked by a tree. But it doesn’t feature the gorilla getting shot, or the child being harmed.
Here’s Jack Hanna, animal expert, defending what the zoo had to do, which is kill the gorilla.
It’s sad that the gorilla, named Harambe, was killed. But what were they going to do? Let the kid get killed? The gorilla was dragging him around like a sack of potatoes.
By the way, this isn’t the first time a child has fallen into a gorilla habitat. I don’t think this particular gorilla was a Silverback, but that’s only because I don’t know stuff like that. (It appears to not be a Silverback because it doesn’t have a silver back, but I’m color blind, so who knows.) Here’s a video from — wait for it — 2015. You know, a year ago.
This incident worked out much better because EVERYONE was OK. Not saying the circumstances are the same. However, in the 2015 video above, you can see the barrier and in theory it should be enough. It wasn’t.
Oh look! Here’s another time a kid wound up in a gorilla habitat at a zoo. In 1996.
As Kimberly Harrington pointed out on Medium, “do accidents happen anymore? Especially when a kid is involved?” (That’s just a quote from the headline. The whole article is worth reading.) Kimberly posted a lot of memes/tweets that resulted from the Harambe incident, but these two really horrified me.
I mean… wow.
Here’s a quick quote from Ms. Harrington’s excellent article:
This is the perfect (shit) storm for the Internet, especially the American variety, because it involves: a) kids, b) animals, and c) parenting. All of the things that the Internet likes to flip its collective wig over. All of the things that allow the Monday morning quarterbacking to gush forth in a rage orgy. Someone needs to pay! She’s a woman? Let’s call her horrible names! This is our chance, Internet!
Yeah. That pretty much says it all. In 1996, maybe all the Prodigy and Compuserve chat rooms were aflame with enraged parents and animal rights activists digitally duking it out. But I sort of doubt it.
Bottom line: everyone needs to take a breath and calm down. Jack Hanna says the choice was between a human life and a gorilla life (paraphrasing here) and the zookeepers chose the child. It is absolutely sad. But there’s no excuse for the kind of vitriol shown above. You can see much more at the link below.
Me? I say enough. No más. It’s over, Johnny.
Except that these are the Interwebs. It’ll never be over. Well, maybe when something else shows up to outrage people.
See also: Hey America, do accidents happen anymore? Especially when a kid is involved? — Be Yourself — Medium
Really? We’re Still Blaming Cartoons?
I should write more about how an “Egypt official blames ‘Tom and Jerry’ for spreading violence” (source: ABC News), but I’m stuck on “Still blaming cartoons? Seriously?”
Feh.
Source: Egypt Official Blames ‘Tom and Jerry’ for Spreading Violence (ABC News)
Sesame Street Avengers Parody (DaddyTube)
Apparently today is National Superhero Day. Even if it isn’t (I’ve been fooled before), this Sesame Street Avengers Parody video “The Aveggies- Age of Bon Bon” is quite amusing. Sorry, forget to say Spoiler Alert.
At the risk of spoiling the best jokes… OK, I won’t. But the Sesame Street writers manage to come up with amusing vegetable-themed names for all of the Avengers, and even works in a version of one of my all-time favorite lines (from the first Avengers movie, which this is technically a parody of, rather than Avengers: Age of Ultron). Makes me wish I had a little kid to hang out with so I could watch more Sesame Street.
If that makes you hungry for more (see what I did there?) here is a Sesame Street Superhero Playlist, which begins with none other than Superman. Ah, the good old days.
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Fixing a Jumpy Trackpad
You know what’s annoying? Computers. Specifically when something doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. Like, say, your pointing device. Want to know how to fix a jumpy trackpad on your Macbook?
As they say in The Pajama Game, we figured it out… with some help from The Google.
Apple Macbook Pro (Early 2008) 17″ Trackpad (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So your trackpad is just kind of… doing stuff. Without you touching it. That’s really annoying. You’re watching a YouTube video and then suddenly iTunes opens and starts playing, say, the soundtrack to The Pajama Game.
(Hey, it’s in our heads now. “Seven and a half cents, doesn’t mean a heck of a lot, seven and a half cents, doesn’t mean a thing…” Great song. Also remarkably relevant today — heard about the Verizon strike? Yeah, it’s about more than seven and a half cents, but inflation and stuff. And OK, it’s not a pajama factory. But there were no cell phones in 1954! OK, back to the point… no pun intended.)
To resume after that parenthetical, your trackpad/touchpad, whatever you want to call it, is making it seem like your computer is possessed by a poltergeist. A ghost in the machine, if you will. (Will not… get… sidetracked… again… no pun intended… we mean it…) What do you do? Thanks to someone on Apple Support Forums, we found this possible solution:
Press down on the left side of your trackpad kind of forcefully, and try to push your trackpad (the actual component of your computer) to the RIGHT side of the macbook. Apparently it can get kind of stuck on the left side and needs to be unjammed essentially.
You know what? For us, this worked. No more jumpy trackpad. I should point out that in my case, I pressed down on the left side of the trackpad more forcefully than usual but not so forcefully that I would break it. So be careful. While still holding it down on the left side, I then repeated the action on right side. Reading the suggestion quoted above, I’m not 100% sure what “try to push your trackpad (the actual component of your computer) to the RIGHT side of the macbook” means. Although now that I’m re-typing the words I suddenly do… maybe.
Whatever you do, be careful not to press too hard, because computers are kind of delicate, at least on the inside (and sometimes on the outside). And as always, caveat doer. That means (a) be careful and (b) if anything goes wrong, it’s not our fault. We’re just (a) repeating what someone wrote on a forum and (b) telling you what worked for us. That’s a disclaimer. Get it? Got it? Good.
Happy computing!
Source: Trackpad is jumpy | Apple Support Communities
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Marvel Buy One Get One Free Sale at Comixology
Oh snap. Big sale on Marvel comics. From now until Sunday, April 24th at 11:59 PM EST (West Coast readers take note), there is a Marvel Buy One Get One Free Sale at Comixology. Digital comics, folks. Such a deal!
The sale includes not only individual issues but also collections, which is kind of awesome. In fact, it also includes Marvel MAX titles, such as Alias, the comic that introduced Jessica Jones.
Schmendrick that I am, I already bought all of the Alias collections after watching the Jessica Jones Netflix series. But if you haven’t done that, and you want to read the Marvel comics that inspired the TV show, you can do that now and save yourself some money.
Instructions should be on the Comixology page, but I’ve been told by a little bird (OK, by a PR person from Comixology) that all you need to do is “enter the code MARVEL at checkout on comixology.com.” Also: “This offer does not apply to Marvel bundles or pre-orders and can only be redeemed on comixology.com.” Get it? Got it? Good. Happy shopping.
The usual disclaimers — DaddyTips.com is not responsible for anything regarding your experience with this deal. We are simply repeating what we were told via email, and what it says on Comixology’s web site.
A brief word about digital comics — I’ve embraced them because I have no room for more stuff. I still buy comic books weekly, for myself and for my kids. And I still love reading physical comic books, both individual issues and trade paperbacks. But… I have no room. And the digital thing is so damn easy. Is there any resale value? Of course not. It’s a digital file. But if you’re willing to buy a movie, TV show, book, or other form of entertainment digitally (and you know you are, at least most of you) you should consider adding digital comics to your diet of media consumption. Also, there’s a sale. We like sales.
Happy reading. Avanti!
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Doctor Strange Trailer (And Some Thoughts on The Comics)
By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth, they actually did it. Here is the new Doctor Strange trailer.
Looks like fun, yeah? I’ll give you a few thoughts of my own; if you want a moment by moment Doctor Strange trailer breakdown check out this video at IGN.
(Note: Marvel/Comixology/Amazon is having a sale on Doctor Strange digital comics — 99 cents each. Check ’em out here.)
So. Doctor Strange. What’s his deal? He’s got magic powers, lots of nifty mystical items that he uses to protect Earth from inter-dimensional nasties, and… I don’t know, he’s cool. Not a traditional superhero like Iron Man, Spider-Man and the rest.
Splash page for the “Doctor Strange” story in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). Art by Steve Ditko. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On a personal note, the first “real” comic book I ever read was an issue of Doctor Strange. I’d been reading Richie Rich, Casper, Archie, that kind of stuff. One day my dad said, “It’s time for you to read some real comics,” and handed me a copy of Doctor Strange. My little boy mind was blown. The first thing I remember is how much smaller the lettering was. That was true for all “real” comics (read: Marvel and DC); Richie Rich, et al, were aimed at very young readers and had simpler dialogue and storylines… and larger lettering. The next thing I remember is the splash page. One big image, full of colorful details, with Doctor Strange himself looming large over it all. I think he was looking out of a window, but it’s possible he was sitting in a chair with stuff drawn around him. I’ve been looking for that issue for years and I think I’ve found it, although I can’t remember what number it is at the moment. I also don’t remember the story. But I do remember how I felt. It was basically my comic book Bar Mitzvah. No more little kid comics for me. Now I could read the good stuff.
And I did. I have a nice collection of books that I bought at the local candy store/newsstand, because you could buy comics there when I was a kid. (You still kind of can, it just isn’t as common.) I didn’t keep those comics in very good shape, which in some cases is a bummer — my Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Daredevils would be worth a few bucks, as would my copy of the original Wolverine mini-series (which you can get for less than six dollars via Comixology). But instead of bagging and boarding everything, I read the hell out of my comics, because they were awesome. (Those Daredevils in particular are probably my favorite comic books ever.)
Back to Doctor Strange. His book went in and out, and I didn’t buy it that often. It’s possible that the local candy store didn’t always have it in stock even when it was being published. In addition to not being a traditional superhero, I don’t think he was as popular as the big names. He did found one of my sneaky super teams, The Defenders. The original core group of Defenders was Doctor Strange, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and The Incredible Hulk, quickly followed by The Silver Surfer. Basically a bunch of really powerful dudes who don’t play well with others, hence the term “non-team”. Later Defenders mainstays included such popular characters as Hellcat, Gargoyle, and Nighthawk. Also Valkyrie. Never heard of them? Join the club. (Marvel is doing a Netflix series called The Defenders, which I’m sure will be fun but doesn’t have much, if anything, to do with The Defenders’ comic books.) The Defenders hung out at Doctor Strange’s Greenwich Village mansion, known as The Sanctum Santorum, while constantly making a point of telling readers that they were NOT a super-team like The Avengers. I liked those comics a lot. Something about the idea of a group of semi-outcasts and/or angry people and/or loners teaming up only when it suited them really appealed to me.
I also always dug the good Doctor on his own. His job, Sorcerer Supreme, was to defend Earth from mystical threats. Sometimes he gets help from other Marvel heroes, but usually he doesn’t, because he’s the only one who can do what needs to be done. This led to some wonderfully trippy artwork, first by the legendary Steve Ditko (written by the even more legendary Stan Lee) and later by lots of other people.
The thing that made me the happiest in the trailer was seeing Doctor Strange’s Astral Form. (When Tilda Swinton punches him and it looks like a ghost pops out of his body.) It works like this: Doc leaves his body behind, defenseless, and his spirit floats around and does stuff. He can travel faster this way, but he can’t touch anyone and most people can’t see him. (One notable exception, if memory serves, is The Hulk. Because comic books. UPDATE: I just read some Doctor Strange comics from the 80s, and in those stories Doc can allow people to see his astral form if he wants them to. Again, because comic books.) It’s something that for various reasons I always found fascinating, so to see them do it in a live action movie had me making little nerdy noises.
So there you go. The Doctor Strange trailer. Looks like Marvel might get it right again, taking a character that isn’t well-known and putting said character into a big-budget blockbuster movie that doesn’t suck. Here’s hoping.
Read some comics:
