Yahoo + Tumblr

As if there was any way you hadn't heard about it, Yahoo has acquired Tumblr for $1.1 Billion. Obviously the staff feels great about it, Yahoo feels great about it and users do not feel great about it. Understandably, Yahoo has a fairly decent track record of Acquire and Neglect but that doesn't necessarily guarantee it has to be that way. It's entirely feasible that new CEO Marissa Mayer can turn that ship around, right?

All and all, it's an interesting purchase and I think a good sign for both Yahoo and Tumblr moving forward towards something. We just need to see what that ends up being.

Return of Fops

I loved Thee More Shallows when they were actively making music and I had high hops for FOPS when I first heard them - as it seemed to be very similar in tone. Unfortunately, they went quiet for a long time and I assumed the project was done. But then, much to my delighted surprised, the band released III and promised three more records were on the way in as many months. They're making good on that and have just released Crestfallen. Both new releases keep it short - just six tracks each - but it's the perfect amount for consumption. Long story short: pay attention, FOPS is putting out new music again.

Fancy Hands Relaunch

The team at Fancy Hands recently relaunched their site with a more focused message on what they do (personal assistants for anyone) and a great bit of animation throughout their homepage. I love sites that come alive as you scroll down through the content, it's like a little reward for your effort and an incentive to keep going.

Saul Bass 'Quest'

In 1983, renowned designer Saul Bass (and his wife Elaine) directed a short film based on Ray Bradbury's "Frost and Fire." The resulting 30 minute piece - Quest - has been on my Really Should Watch This list for awhile. So, I'm making sure to put it out there so I'm held responsible for partaking in it. The special effects and set pieces have a familiar early 80's feel (think TRON or even Never-Ending Story) but with that Bass design angle to them. The above screenshots do it no justice.

Many thanks to Drafthouse for the heads up - I can't get over the amount of quality content they put out there unrelated to their own endeavors.

Friday Videos - May 17th, 2013

Another week, another playlist. Are you not entertained!? You will be.

• Guacamole - I realize these shows are rigged but this one word delivery is pretty much on the nose.
• Se7en vs The Pointer Sisters - conceptually, this is amusing. in execution, it's insanely impressive. A good edit is hard to deny. Love this.
• Tobias Funke Sizzling Reel - if you haven't taken time this week to check out the Tobias Funke viral marketing site - Insert Me Anywhere - do it now. The action hero sequences are out of this world.
• Ahmed Angle is planet - have you met Ahmed Angel? You can familiarize yourself with the whole meme here but just sit back and enjoy the Photoshopped ride. It's the best. via Paige.
• Spaced (US) - if you've not seen the UK Series Spaced make sure you watch it this weekend. If you have, check out this pilot for a US relaunch. Its never easy to see familiar characters reworked in this way.. sheesh. via Paul.
• Phantom of the Paradise - Brian De Palma's 1974 Phantom of the Opera inspired bonkers musical. How this predates the Rocky Horror Picture Show is beyond me but I'm just going to assume it's a direct influence. It looks ridiculous to say the very least.
• Supercut - Noooooooooo - nailed it.

Have a great weekend!

Jakob Wagner: Urban Zoom

The full portfolio of Jakob Wagner is an impressive collection. I love the Nightscapes, the Thunderstorms and plenty more but I was particularly taken by a few of the photos in the Urban Zoom collection. It's a simple effect but there's something great about it.

Larping League Ad Campaign

If your LARPing League is having a hard time recruiting new members, why not spread the word via a brilliantly clever ad campaign? Seems like an undeniably great idea. Nice work ad agency!

via.

Minbox

Minbox is a menu-bar application that does the same thing as Dropbox - only it claims to do it much, much faster. The cloud syncing itself probably isn't any faster but the generated link to the content seems to appear very quickly. So what's the big deal? You must watch their promo video - it's equally hilarious and aggressive with taking Dropbox speeds to task.* Ridiculous.

It's also deceptive if you look at the actual sync times being displayed but, regardless, it's still funny.

WEMO Devices

Recently, IFTTT announced new triggers for Wemo Devices. My first thought - what is a Wemo device?! Turns out, Wemo is a family of Belkin products that are internet enabled. Remember when you heard that, one day, all your appliances would be hooked into the Internet? Well, here's your first step. Control the power flow to any device running through this special plug and the Belkin app or activate a variety of actions with a motion sensor (i.e. come home, turn on the lights). I am sure there are DIY devices that do similar things but I kind of love that this is mass produced - hopefully it's still high quality.

Alex Prager: Photography & Films

It's been some time since I visited the works of Alex Prager but it works out because there's an onslaught of new material to check out. There are new photo series - Compulsion, Week-End - Short films, interviews, featurettes and more. Also, if you haven't seen the collection of vignettes called Touch of Evil you are missing out.

Long story short, it's time to revisit the works of Alex Prager. It's been too long.

Google I/O 2013

The 2013 Google I/O has been underway for approximately one day and they've already announced a slew of impressive new things. A Spotify/Rdio competitor called All Access, redesigned Google+ and a Google Maps overhaul are the heavy hitters so far but they're also improving search, Chrome, video codecs, Google Glass and more. It's funny how a company perception can go from having their hands in too many pies to being properly positioned for life improvement. Was it a Master Plan or just kismet?

Layervault Relaunch

The recent relaunch for LayerVault is an impressive piece of work. Overall, the look is quite flat and simple but the small details they've integrated (animations everywhere!) certainly don't go unappreciated. Check the customer stories to get a better understanding of the tool but, mostly, just cruise around and look at the pretty design.

The Square Stand

Have you seen the recently launched Square Stand? Square's iPad housing makes for a pretty slick looking checkout experience. I dunno who is behind the design but it's always clean, intuitive and smart. The fact that I, personally, have zero need for a retail register but am still intrigued by this piece of hardware is pretty telling of how right they are doing things.

SIFF 2013

I've never been to SIFF - the Seattle International Film Festival - but based on what I'm seeing from their Internet offerings, it's a worthwhile endeavor. Nevermind the Kyle MacLachlan Tribute or the quality programming - you must see this 2013 Festival Trailer. There are 20 movies depicted in miniature during that one minute and they're all impressive. You can see how it was done in the Making Of but see if you can guess all the films just by watching.

Prints By Scott Benson

I've been a fan of Scott Benson for some time - any right-minded individual would be. I hadn't really scrubbed through his latest works recently so it was a real treat to come upon his latest prints - Travelers of the Solar System and Hemisphere Boreal. Or maybe these have been up for awhile and I'm an idiot for not having seen them already. Regardless, they're inspiring in every way and a healthy reminder - Keep Up With Scott Benson At All Times.

Vanishing Point

United Visual Artists recently launched an installation in Berlin appropriately entitled Vanishing Point. It uses a series of lasers to create arbitrary vanishing points within the space provided. It's hard to imagine what this looks like in person but, in photo, it's gorgeous.

Chiripify Payment Platform

Kevin showed me the Chirpify service yesterday and I was immediately intrigued. On the surface, it appears to be a rather clever way of allowing in-stream transactions to occur with Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Essentially, you see a thing you want, you leave a comment (or @reply) with "buy" and it's yours. Is this exploitative of impulse buying? Absolutely! But that doesn't make it an awful thing.

My question is - what level of safety is being guaranteed here? As a buyer, I don't get a sense of being protected from the site. As a seller, I don't really see a downside. Food for thought, for sure.

Ferris Plock: Fingered!

Ferris Plock is a personal favorite of mine - his fine art is such an incredible combination of things it's hard to nail down. So when I saw that he has a new cartoon up (from Eighty Four Films) I jumped on it! It exists in a slightly more crass world than his fine art but I think it's that ability to bounce around that makes it so appealing. I'm convinced he needs his own show - this would only get better and better if given a chance to blossom.

Zhang Xiangxi TV Diorama

Artist Zhang Xiangxi creates diorama's inside of hollowed out CRT television shells. The creations depict lavish living spaces or cramped dormitory life - all appearing flat from a distance and revealing their depth on closer inspection. You can see more here.

via Wreck and Salvage.

Arrested Development Season 4 Trailer

How could I not post the trailer for Arrested Development Season 4? It's great to see that Netflix has fully recovered from their strange prior transgressions and are just killing it with original content and revived favorites. What's their next move? Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be interesting.

Pixel Press: Draw Your Own Videogame

The team at Pixel Press has launched a Kickstarter to finish developing the software to allow you to draw your own videogame. With some grid paper, a bit of OCR and custom software they will be able to let you map out a platformer and play it without any code interaction. Watching the timelapse of creating a level may not be as engaging as an adult but I can remember a time as a game-obsessed child that drawing out my own levels would have been an afternoon well spent. Let's hope they reach their goal!

John's Forbidden Planet

The repository of restored old movie posters, show cards and film reviews at John's Forbidden Planet has been running since 2007. There is no shortage of inspiring imagery found on every single page. Author John Fields does a good job of keeping the content sprinkled with rare photos, forgotten gems and the occasional seemingly salacious pulp.

Friday Videos - May 10th, 2013

Here's your playlist. I'm pretty confident you're going to love it.

• Riker Sits Down - did you ever notice the skill with which Commander Riker straddles a seat? You'll never unsee it now.
• Previously on Mad Men - quality ambiguity. Totally senseless if you don't watch the show.
• But I'm A Nice Guy - incredible animation from Scott Benson. I love everything about it except how short it is.
• Waka Flock In The Booth - just close your eyes and let it take you to another realm.
• Magic is Everywhere - yes, I've really run this whole Hotpipes promo thing into the ground but I can't express how much I love this video and song.
• You're Correct Horse - I honestly thought that Riker video was going to be the greatest thing I'd seen in awhile but this video... this video exists in an entirely different world. It's everything a good Internet video needs to be.

Have a great weekend! See you tomorrow.

Hotpipes DUST Record Release

You know how I've been rattling on about the latest from Hotpipes? You know, that album DUST and the incredible video for Magic Is Everywhere? Well, here's one more delicious gem: Thanks to the fine design and print work of BOSS Construction there will be a limited edition art print available at tomorrow's Record Release Show. The print looks awesome and is just one more undeniable reason to attend the show. Oh yea, the entry fee is only $10 and you get a copy of the LP. It's ridiculous.

tl;dr - Awesome Hotpipes show tomorrow featuring rad new poster and ultra cheap copy of Dust LP.

Art, Copy & Code

A series of advertising experiments from Google doesn't seem that odd considering their long history with advertising - they're not exactly strangers to that world. Art, Code & Copy is a beautifully designed site that has a pretty simple mission statement:

We're in the midst of a second creative revolution, driven by technology. Code is being added to the core creative process, enabling new forms of brand expression and engagement. Art, copy and code is the creative team for the connected world.

Watch this intro video to understand what they're getting at. Basically, personalizing advertising isn't such a foreign concept anymore and Google wants to tinker with ways to make it work best.

via Will.