Tech Digest

We love Wii because...

Where else can you spend a happy hour or two pulling worms out of rabbits' teeth? Click below for a bonkers clip from one of the mini-games in the upcoming Wii Rayman title. Since when did worms have teeth? Actually, since when did rabbits go to the dentist to have worms with teeth removed from their mouths? Maybe it's better not to ask.

One Minute Video Review: Motorola KRZR

Here's Ashley and I looking at the Motorola KRZR, and having heaps of fun trying to figure out how you say it. There's also a respectable amount of time looking at what exactly it does. Expect it to appear in the shops in the next few weeks.

YouTube Video of the Day - Fool shoots hornet nest.

What happens when you give a fool a gun and show them the location of a troublesome hornets nest? Predicatbly, the answer lies in pain and sorrow.

Mof Gimmers

YouTube Video of the Day - The tale of the Russian singer and plain bad luck

Well, seeing as today is Friday 13th, you couldn't get away from a bit of bad luck. If something has happened to you, keep in mind; You're day is probably going better than this poor bloke.

Mof Gimmers

Spoof Cameron vid online gets MPs in a tizz

A spoof video posted online by Labour MP Sion Simon as a mick-take of David Cameron's first "I'm just like you - doing the washing up and telling my kid to be quiet" YouTube video has caused a bit of consternation amongst MPs on both sides of the House.

Tory MP Peter Luff says the spoof video brings 'all of us in politics into disrepute' (you need help?) whilst fellow Labour backbencher Stephen Pound thought Mr Cameron's wife Samantha would be "hurt and insulted" by some of the references in the video.

Well, having watched the spoof, it's not completely innocent, but then neither is it worse than a lot of the satirical comedy on TV - and the fact it comes from a politician - well, bless him, he tried.

I was going to link to it, but unfortunately it's been removed from YouTube. Self-censorship. Shame.

YouTube Video of the Day - Real Life Transformer

Can I have one of these please? Any generous TechDigest readers up for buying me one? No? Damn you.

Mof Gimmers

One Minute Review: LG KG810, the Chocolate Clamshell

Too lazy to read? In this instance you're ok, since you can sit back and watch a brief synopsis of the LG KG810 in this video (you might have problems with the rest of this site though). If you want more details, check out the full review here.

Thirty years of VHS

I missed a significant birthday on Monday, so here's a belated happy birthday to the VHS video system. Thanks to JVC the whole world of home movies and recording really opened up. I know no article is complete without the obligatory mention of Sony's Betamax (which is probably older than me), but it was VHS that stormed the world - thanks in part to the porn industry.

It's easy to dismiss VHS as a graveyard technology now that we've entered the world of DVD and hard disc recording, and are pushing on towards high-def optical disc formats, but VHS still has its place - for one there's a lot of content sitting around on tapes, and combined machines (HDD, DVD and VHS) are still being released, though they don't get as much attention as sleek PVRs and DVD recorders.

VHS was even granted an IEEE milestone as an honour of its significant social and historical impact.

So raise a glass to VHS and that stack of black plastic video cases I know you've got stashed away somewhere at home. The future might be all shiny and disc shaped, but VHS revolutionised home cinema.

Via GizMag

YouTube Video of the Day - The Monkey Drummer (Aphex Twin vrs Chris Cunningham)

You should have heard of Aphex Twin by now. You should have also heard of Chris Cunningham. If not, one makes marvellously mental electronic music, the other, marvellously monged films. When the two come together, you get the frightening Come To Daddy Video... or this. Brilliant.

Mof Gimmers

Warner does streaming video deal with Google. Sound familiar?

As David Brent might say, you have to look at the whole pie. We've just seen that Google have bought YouTube. Fact. We also saw that last month Warner signed an agreement with YouTube, so I suppose it's not surprising that Warner have also agreed to allow its music videos to be streamed on Google Videos.

The deal should mean that US residents (sheesh they always get the good stuff first) can watch thousands of music videos, interviews and behind the scenes footage, and Warner Music Group videos will also be available on Google's partner websites. Google are also developing technology that will allow users to include authorised content from Warner and other record companies in videos that they create and upload.

It's going to be interesting to see whether this deal was inked because of Google's acquisition of YouTube (I can't believe it was a coincidence) and how it will affect the services. I wrote in the post about Warner and YouTube: "What's interesting is that YouTube have developed a royalty-tracking system that discovers when a user has uploaded video with copyrighted music on it, and then allows Warner to decide whether to approve or reject that video."

Will this same system be ported across to Google? Will Google Video and YouTube share the same technology? Or will the services remain separate, serving different audiences?

It's something Google will be keen to sort out, anyway, as there are legal concerns on both GV and YouTube. Getting all the major record labels on side (YouTube's nearly there) will give the sites a major boost in terms of content and what users can legally do with copyrighted material.