Video Games and the Uncanny Valley

Episode Four in Daniel Floyd's series of video "lectures," made in association with Edge. Co-written with James Portnow, cofounder of Divide By Zero Games. Loosely modeled after Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's Zero Punctuation reviews. (...)

The uncanny valley is a hypothesis regarding the field of robotics. The theory holds that when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The "valley" in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a function of a robot's lifelikeness.

The term was coined by roboticist Masahiro Mori as Bukimi no Tani Genshō (不気味の谷現象) in 1970, and has been linked to Ernst Jentsch's concept of "the uncanny" identified in a 1906 essay, "On the Psychology of the Uncanny". Jentsch's conception is famously elaborated upon by Sigmund Freud in a 1919 essay titled "The Uncanny" ("Das Unheimliche"). A similar problem exists in realistic 3D computer animation, such as with the films Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, The Polar Express, and Beowulf.

The Philosophy of Liberty

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible is a libertarian book written by Ken Schoolland, a libertarian and professor of economics. Although it is read by many adults, it is aimed at the young audience, hoping to show young people Schoolland's concerns about statist society in ways they can easily understand.

The preface of the book, "The Philosophy of Liberty", has been turned into a very popular short film, distributed on the internet in many formats, including flash animation, video, slideshow or text, in around forty languages.

Black & White Introduction [High Quality]

Black & White is a computer game developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts and Feral Interactive. It is a god game released in 2001, which included elements of artificial life, strategy, and fighting games.

The player acts as a god and takes control over villages across several islands. Black & White features a unique gameplay element, a creature that the player can raise and teach. The game was highly anticipated and overall well received. (...)

This is the introduction video of Black & White. A video game released on March 25, 2001. It was developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts and Feral Interactive.

Don't Make Me Get My Main

The MP3 for this song is on Cranius' newly-released album, "Big Blue Dress". Legs and Cranius submitted this movie to the Blizzcon 2009 movie contest, and they took first place. (...)

"Don't Make Me Get My Main" is a story about a guy who is being camped in Stranglethorn Vale while leveling an alt. He tries to convince his attacker that messing with him is a bad idea because he's a skilled PvPer. Eventually he has to logout and get his main character to come to the defense of his alt.

Ulduar

Here's [Summergale's] first collaboration with Cranius, a highly talented musician and machinima producer, and the incredibly awesome machinima artist Legs. Without their help and huge contributions, this video would likely have never seen the light of day. (...)

"Ulduar" has a bit of a "Romeo and Juliet" theme, where the PvEer (sung by Summergale) is dating the PvPer (sung by Cranius). He's a punk and a bit of a rebel. She's a highly-skilled and geared raider. She wants to bring him along to her playground of choice, the newest most challenging raid instance. He wants nothing to do with it and wants to show her the dark side of PvP.

Mtn Dew Game Fuel ® World of Warcaft ® Edition "Choose Your Side"

To help celebrate the launch of Mountain Dew Game Fuel® Citrus Cherry and Mountain Dew Game Fuel® Wild Fruit, Blizzard Entertainment® and Mountain Dew team up for a unique sweepstakes promotion. (...)

World of Warcraft, often referred to as WoW, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994. World of Warcraft takes place within the Warcraft world of Azeroth, two years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous Warcraft release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

Wrought

"The movie was created by me [Legs] and Cranius.

The song used (Wrought) is by the awesome rock band "Peratus". Go listen to more of their music if you like Wrought! (...)

Our interpretation of their song is a tragedy which unfolds as you see flashbacks from the perspective of an undead warrior who recalls how he fell in love with a beautiful blood elf before his undead existence, a forbidden love which was unacceptable to her people."

Dragon Ball Z - Goku turns super saiyan for the first time

Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール, Doragon Bōru) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 through 1995, and later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Inspired by the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West, it follows the adventures of Son Goku from his childhood through middle age as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven mystical objects known as the Dragon Balls, which are known to grant any wish. Along his trip, Goku meets several friends and fights against several villains who plan to get the Dragon Balls to grant their wishes and some who aim to conquer the world. (...)

DBZ 80 - Transformed at Last

Goku, enraged by his Krillin's death, turns super saiyan for the first time on planet Namek.

He's Barack Obama

Its a bird! Its a plane! No, he's Barack Obama and hes come to save the day! JibJab puts the rock in Barack with a new, over-the-top satire that debuted in front of the President himself this Friday at the Radio & Television Correspondents Dinner!

Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum in Bric-a-Brac Independence Day

What if America had been founded by the characters in the movie Independence Day? Mr. T hosts as Celebrity Bric-a-Brac Theater tells the revised story of the founding of our nation. And there's Daleks.

Deep Space Homer

"Deep Space Homer" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season. It is also the source of the Overlord meme. The episode was written by David Mirkin, who was an experienced producer of the show, with "Deep Space Homer" being his freshman writing credit for the series.

In spite of Homer being chosen to go into space, he is very nervous about going. He runs from the space shuttle and talks with Marge on the phone, and she says that Homer ought to take advantage of going into space. He agrees and gets into the Corvair space shuttle, with its name a reference to the car that was widely considered to be unsafe. The launch is also a Nielsen ratings smash. When on the shuttle, Homer smuggles potato chips ("Careful! They're ruffled!") on board. He opens the bag, but is unaware that they will clog the instruments. His appetite seems to save the day as he floats after the chips in zero-G to the tune of The Blue Danube, but he flies into an ant farm, destroying it, sowing panic across the world as the ants are set free thanks to Kent Brockman's rather premature assessment of the situation.

Although James Taylor comes in to make a modified adaptation of "You've Got a Friend", the disaster continues on board, with Kent Brockman reporting that the space shuttle has been taken over by giant space ants. The ants destroy the navigation system but, luckily, James Taylor suggests that they blow the bugs out the front hatch. The astronauts do, but Homer fails to put on his "shuttle belt" and is sucked out of the hatch. Buzz pulls him inside but due to the vacuums' sheer force, Homer breaks the handle. He inadvertently uses the carbon rod to seal the door shut. They return to Earth, landing at a journalist convention.

Lego Millenium Falcon Stop Motion

Animated lego pieces putting together the Millenium Falcon (...)

The Millennium Falcon is a fictional spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Wookiee firstmate, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). The highly modified YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and subsequently in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The Falcon also appears in a variety of Star Wars expanded universe materials, including books, comics, and games.

The return of the Soviet Union

"Simpson Tide" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. The episode first aired on March 29, 1998. The episode title puns on the film Crimson Tide. Guest starring Rod Steiger as Captain Tenille, Bob Denver as himself and Michael Carrington as the Drill Sargeant. This was the last episode Al Jean and Mike Reiss show-ran together, both would return in season 13 with Jean as show runner and Reiss as produce (...)

Homer fails to find his way back to Springfield, and ends up going entirely the wrong way, ending up in Russian waters. This is interpreted by the United States government as an attempt to hi-jack the sub, and the media brands Homer a traitor. This event creates a political schism between the USA and Russia; the Russian government reveals that the Soviet Union still exists, and that its fall was merely a ruse. As such, the diplomat switches his name plate to "Soviet Union" mode, and curious changes occur in Russia. Tanks emerge from within floats depicting teddy bears in a parade in front of the Kremlin, goosestepping troops parade, the Berlin Wall reappears from nowhere (still with guards and dogs on it) and Lenin returns from the dead saying as he comes back "Must... crush... capitalism!".

Futurama - The Un-Freeze of a Lifetime

"Anthology of Interest I" is episode sixteen in season two of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on May 21, 2000. This episode, as well as the later "Anthology of Interest II", serves to showcase three out-of-canon "imaginary" stories, in a manner similar to the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes of Matt Groening's other animated series The Simpsons. (...)

Fry narrowly misses falling into the cryogenic tube, and a rift in the space-time continuum appears, which shows the Planet Express crew in the future. The next day, after talking to Mr. Panucci, he came to the attention of Stephen Hawking who arranges for Fry to be abducted.He is introduced to the "Vice Presidential Action Rangers", whose task is to protect the space-time continuum.

Fry explains what happened the previous night at the cryogenic facility and the Vice Presidential Action Rangers determine that Fry was supposed to die and try to kill him. Another rift appears during the attempted murder and Nichelle Nichols suggests that Fry be frozen and Gary Gygax gives Fry his +1 mace for protection in the future. Just before Fry is frozen, he smashes the cryogenic tube, causing the universe to collapse into a space-time rift. This results in Fry and the Vice Presidential Action Rangers appearing at some other indeterminate dimension which is not part of the universe. The scenario ends with them playing Dungeons and Dragons for the rest of eternity.

Women In Art

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art.

Salvador Dali on "What's My Line?"

This ten minute clip is drawn from the famous 1950s game show, and it's quite surreal. I don't use the word surreal loosely: the special guest is Salvador Dalí.

Doll Face

A machine with a doll face mimics images on television screen in search of a satisfactory visage. Doll Face presents a visual account of desires misplaced and identities fractured by our technological extension into the future.

Ferenc Cakó at SICAF 2003

Ferenc Cakó is a Hungarian sand animation artist, notable for his fluidity and economy. A video of his live performance (named Genesis) at SICAF 2003, in Seoul, South Korea, has been widely disseminated online. In this performance, Cakó retold the story of Adam and Eve with brief, successive animations.

The Simpsons and the Powers of Ten

The couch gag is a running visual joke in the opening credits of the animated television series The Simpsons. The couch gag changes from episode to episode, and usually features the Simpson family's living room couch. A typical gag features the Simpson family running into the living room, only to find some abnormality with the couch; be it a bizarre and unexpected occupant, an odd placement of the couch, such as the ceiling, or any number of other situations. In more recent seasons, the couch gags have tended to be more outlandish and absurd. (...)

One of the longer couch gags to date is "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner"'s 45-second spoof of the short film Powers of Ten. After the family runs in and sits on the couch, the camera pulls up through the roof and continues pulling back - past Springfield, the United States, Earth, the Solar System, Kang and Kodos outside their broken spaceship, and finally the entire Milky Way galaxy. As the scene continues receding, the galaxies turn into atoms, which become molecules, which become strands of DNA, which become skin cells, which become Homer's head. Homer then says "woooow" (later changed to "cool" in subsequent airings.) The early part of the sequence is accompanied by Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra on the music track, until Kang and Kodos are encountered, followed by a generally eerie and suspenseful underscoring until Homer's scalp is finally revealed.

Family Guy - Adolf Hitler and Peter Hitler

"Untitled Griffin Family History" is an episode from season 4 of FOX animated television series Family Guy. On the DVD this episode is referred to as "The Griffin Family History". (...) Some stories include that of silent movie actor Black Eye Griffin, and Adolf Hitler's annoying brother Peter Hitler.